Question

select the correct answer.
in this excerpt from philip freneau’s poem \american liberty,\ the speaker describes being \slaves and minions to a parliament.\ what is the intended meaning of this hyperbole?

and should we now when spread thro’ ev’ry shore,
submit to that our fathers shunn’d before?
should we, just heaven, our blood and labour spent,
be slaves and minions to a parliament?
perish the thought, nor may one wretch remain,
who dares not fight and in our cause be slain;

a. the speaker feels that the colonists should pay their share of taxes.
b. the speaker believes that the british government is broken and should be fixed.
c. the speaker thinks that the colonists are being unfairly treated by the british government.
d. the speaker intends to lead a slave revolt against the british government.

Explanation:

• Option A: The poem's tone is against submission to Parliament, so the idea of paying taxes (implying compliance) is incorrect.
• Option B: The poem focuses on the colonists' treatment, not fixing the British government. The speaker is against being subject to Parliament, not wanting to fix it.
• Option C: The hyperbole "slaves and minions to a parliament" exaggerates the colonists' position to show they feel oppressed/unfairly treated by British rule, matching the poem's anti - submission tone.
• Option D: The poem is about colonial resistance to British rule, not a slave revolt (the "slaves" here is a metaphor for subjugation, not literal slavery).

Answer:

C. The speaker thinks that the colonists are being unfairly treated by the British government.