Historian Dr. Amy Chen argues that the Enlightenment's ideals of reason and progress contained internal contradictions that enabled colonialism and slavery to coexist with liberty rhetoric.
Which historical analysis would best support Chen's contradiction argument?
The Enlightenment influenced many thinkers
Major Enlightenment philosophers who advocated universal rights (Locke, Montesquieu, Kant) simultaneously developed racial hierarchies that explicitly excluded non-Europeans from moral consideration—a documented pattern across the movement
Slavery existed for centuries
Colonialism was widespread
Correct Answer: B
Choice B is the best answer. Same thinkers holding contradictory views + documented pattern proves internal tension.
đź’ˇ Strategy: Contradiction claims need evidence of simultaneous opposing positions in same sources.