Question

Which idea is MOST central to "The History of 'The Drinking Gourd'"?

A. Slaves used many means to escape their owners, including following coded messages.
B. The Civil War was an important set of battles that ended slavery in the South.
C. Slavery was a terrible practice that took place several hundred years ago.
D. The North Star was also called Polaris and could be found by locating the Big Dipper.

Answer 1

The most central idea to 'The History of The Drinking Gourd' is that slaves escaped using coded messages, with the 'Drinking Gourd' being a code for the Big Dipper to find the North Star and seek freedom.

Step-by-step explanation:

The idea MOST central to "The History of 'The Drinking Gourd'" is that slaves used many means to escape their owners, including following coded messages. This is because the "Drinking Gourd" is a reference to the Big Dipper constellation, a code used by enslaved African Americans to find the North Star and navigate the Underground Railroad to freedom. The historical references to the broader context of slavery, such as its economic implications, the Civil War, and the deeply ingrained social systems of the period, as well as specific details like the symbolic meaning of the North Star in artworks like Aspiration, all support this central theme of escape and self-emancipation.