"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 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 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 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

A

Explanation:

American colonists' declaration of independence from Britain

on this day in 1913, henry ford installs the first moving assembly line for the mass production of an entire automobile. his innovation reduced the time it took to build a car from more than 12 hours to two hours and 30 minutes.

in the united states, the president is controlled by the

constitution, and in all respects subordinate to it. insofar

as it deals with presidential power, however, the american

constitution has proved to be a highly malleable document.

with very few exceptions,' the constitutional provisions relating to the president have not been changed at all since

they were ratified in 1787. but in the late twentieth century, those provisions do not mean what they meant in

1787. the constitution is a legal document, and it is enforced judicially; but its meaning was hardly fixed when it

was ratified. in particular, the contemporary president has

far broader powers than the original constitution contemplated. it is remarkable but true that large-scale changes in

the authority of the president have been brought about

without changes in the constitutional text, but nevertheless

without significant illegality.

this is a paradox. is it not clear that constitutional

changes, if not textual, are illegal? the paradox has considerable relevance to our current thinking about the presidency in particular and about constitutionalism in general.

perhaps the framers of the american constitution feared

legislative power most of all; 2 but from well-known events

in the twentieth century, it is possible to conclude that it is

presidential power that holds out the greatest risks to both

liberty and democracy. the president is by far the most visible leader in the nation; he is often the only person in government with a national constituency. moreover, he is