AP US History · Contextualization
Douglass’s argument most directly challenged which development of the late nineteenth century?
Frederick Douglass, 1869
Speaking in 1869 amid debate over Chinese immigration, Frederick Douglass argued that the United States should admit people regardless of race or national origin and permit them to become fully American. He rejected the idea that national strength required racial uniformity and connected immigration to a broader principle of equal human rights.
Adapted from Frederick Douglass, “Our Composite Nationality,” 1869.
Douglass’s argument most directly challenged which development of the late nineteenth century?
Answer and explanation
Answer: C: Growing nativist pressure to restrict Chinese immigration
Douglass spoke in 1869 amid debate over Chinese immigration, arguing against racial exclusion and for full membership in the nation. That challenged growing nativist pressure to restrict Chinese immigration, which later produced the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, so C is correct. Choice A is tempting because Douglass was an abolitionist, but slavery was already abolished and he is not attacking abolitionism. Choice B misdescribes Redeemers, who sought to displace Republican governments rather than restore them. Choice D, the Populist demand for free silver, is unrelated to an immigration argument.
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