The agitation in the North against the spread of slavery into the new territories in the 1840s and 1850s

a. considerably improved the economic and social status of northern free blacks in the 1840s and 1850s.
b. reflected the fact that white northerners often professed to like the race but disliked individual blacks.
c. often grew out of race prejudice, not humanitarianism.
d. allowed for many free blacks to become prominent business leaders.
e. often resulted from the fact that anti-black feeling was in fact frequently stronger in the North than in the South.