Read the passage from Sugar Changed the World.

Question

With their victory, the people of Saint Domingue announced that the conflict between freedom and property was over: "All men are equal" meant that no men are property. This idea terrified the English—and not merely because their sugar island of Jamaica was just over a hundred miles across the water from Saint Domingue. Indeed, slaves in Jamaica were beginning to sing a new song while they worked:

One, two, tree,
All de same;
Black, white, brown,
All de same;
All de same.
One, two, tree,
All de same!

That chant did more than threaten a slave revolt—it was a challenge to all ranking hierarchies. Jamaica had already seen many slave revolts, and the reverend John Lindsay was certain that the talk of freedom and liberty in North America had inspired the slaves: "At our tables (where . . . every Person has his own waiting man behind him) we have I am afraid been too careless of Expressions, especially when the topic of American rebellion has been . . . brandished with strains of Virtuous Heroism.” But the slaves did not need to overhear their masters to learn about the ideas of equality. Black sailors working ships running all through the islands were carrying the word. And if this spirit of liberty got out of hand, that could be really dangerous. After all, in England itself only 3 percent of the population had the right to vote. If this expanded idea of freedom spread, how safe were the kings and dukes, earls and knights, of England? Starting in fall 1793, British troops began arriving in Saint Domingue to reenslave people and return them to their sugar plantations. As Henry Dundas, the British secretary of war, put it, their goal was to "prevent a circulation in the British Colonies of the wild and pernicious Doctrines of Liberty and Equality.”

How do the authors use historical evidence to support their claim? Select two options.

They use a secondary source to show that the British secretary of war opposed involuntary servitude.
They use a primary source to show that a song was spreading the idea of equality across the Caribbean.
They use a secondary source to show that the idea of an enslaved people’s revolt was groundbreaking.
They use a statistic to show that England had enough voters to end slavery and establish equality.
They use a primary source to show that some white people opposed the idea of freeing enslaved people.

Answer 1

The authors use historical evidence to support their claim in the following two ways:

1. They use a primary source to show that a song was spreading the idea of equality across the Caribbean.

   • The chant sung by slaves in Jamaica underscores the message of equality and serves as evidence of the spread of revolutionary ideas among enslaved people.

2. They use a secondary source to show that some white people opposed the idea of freeing enslaved people.

   • The reference to reverend John Lindsay’s concerns about the influence of talk of freedom and liberty on slaves illustrates the fear and opposition among some white individuals regarding the potential for revolts and the spread of equality.

These selections demonstrate how the authors use both primary and secondary sources to highlight the dynamics of resistance to slavery and the aspiration for equality in the context of historical events.