"The petition of a great number of blacks detained in a state of slavery in the bowels of a free and Christian country humbly showeth that... they have in common with all other men a natural and inalienable right to that freedom which the Great Parent of the Universe has bestowed equally on all mankind and which they have never forfeited by any compact of agreement whatever...Every principle from which America has acted in the course of their unhappy difficulties with Great Britain pleads stronger than a thousand arguments in favor of your petitioners. They therefore humbly beseech your honors to give this petition its due weight and consideration and cause an act of the legislature to be passed whereby they may be restored to the enjoyments of that which is the natural right of all men." (Petition for freedom to the Massachusetts Council and the House of Representatives for the State of Massachusetts, January 1777)Which of the following most likely helped to prompt the petition in the excerpt?A. American colonists' declaration of independence from BritainB. British promises of land for service in the American RevolutionC. The passage of the Stamp Act, a tax imposed on the American colonies by the British ParliamentD. The proliferation of religious revivals in the eighteenth century; commonly referred to as the Great Awakening
