Which passage is the best example of an explicit statement from Thoughts and Sentiments that shows Cugoano's beliefs about slavery?

• A. However, notwithstanding all that has been done and written against it, that brutish barbarity, and unparalelled injustice, is still carried on to a very great extent in the colonies, and with an avidity as insidious, cruel and oppressive as ever.
• B. However, it cannot but be very discouraging to a man of my complexion in such an attempt as this, to meet with the evil aspersions of some men, who say, 'That an African is not entitled to any competent degree of knowledge, or capable of imbibing any sentiments of probity; and that nature designed him for some inferior link in the chain, fitted only to be a slave.'
• C. By some of such complexion, as whether black or white it matters not, I was early snatched away from my native country, with about eighteen or twenty more boys and girls, as we were pl
• D. That subject handled in your striking manner would ease the yoke (perhaps) of many—but if only of one—Gracious God!—what a feast to a benevolent heart!—and, sure I am, you are an epicurean in acts of charity.

Answer: (A)

The main idea being tested is recognizing a direct, explicit anti-slavery statement from Cugoano. The best choice names slavery for what it is—systemic cruelty and injustice—right in the present, showing his clear belief that the slave system in the colonies is a moral wrong that must be opposed. It uses strong, unambiguous language: slavery is described as brutish barbarity and unparalleled injustice, still carried on with relentless force. This makes his stance unmistakable and foundational to his abolitionist argument in Thoughts and Sentiments.

Context helps: Thoughts and Sentiments (1787) is an abolitionist work in which Cugoano speaks as a former slave about the humanity of Africans and the immorality of slavery. The passage that directly condemns the practice captures that core stance.

The other excerpts touch on related ideas—personal experience, refuting racist arguments, or appeals to charity—but they do not articulate the same explicit, overarching judgment about slavery itself as an institution.