Directions: Use this passage and your knowledge of U.S. history to answer questions 1 through 3.
African-American Sailors
African Americans contributed greatly to the growth of maritime commerce in the United States. Beginning in colonial times, slaves, with their masters’ permission, hired themselves out as sailors. Some served as translators on slave ships. Merchant ships also offered a means of escape for runaway slaves. A few escapees even took to the sea as pirates. Seafaring was one of the few occupations open to free African Americans. They served on clippers, naval vessels, and whaling ships from the 1700s into the late 1800s. Federal crew lists from Atlantic seaports show that during this time, African Americans made up 10 percent or more of sailors on American ships. Seafaring was an especially dangerous line of work for free blacks. They risked capture in southern ports, where they were often thrown in jail or sold into slavery.
The passage implies that free and enslaved African Americans went to sea for all of the following reasons except to
A. escape slavery.
B. live as pirates.
C. earn wages as sailors.
D. discover new lands.