"Antebellum planters . . . were very interested in the control of black movement. They were also keen to master their slaves' senses of pleasure. Seeking to contain [African Americans] even further than laws, curfews, bells, horns, and patrols already did, some planters used plantation [parties] as a paternalist mechanism of social control. Plantation parties, which carefully doled out joy on Saturday nights and holidays, were intended to seem benevolent and to inspire respect, gratitude, deference, and importantly, obedience. . . . The most important component of paternalistic plantation parties was the legitimating presence of the master.
". . . [Yet] again and again, slaves sought out illicit, secular gatherings of their own creation. They disregarded curfews and pass laws to escape to secret parties where . . . pleasures such as drinking, eating, dancing, and dressing up were the main amusements. . . .
". . . In the context of enslavement, such exhilarating pleasure . . . must be understood as important and meaningful enjoyment, as personal expression, and as oppositional."
Stephanie M. H. Camp, historian, Closer to Freedom: Enslaved Women and Everyday Resistance in the Plantation South, 2004
Which of the following does the author use as evidence to support her argument that slaveholders were "keen to master their slaves' senses of pleasure"?
A. Slaveholders held parties to encourage the loyalty of the enslaved.
B. Slaveholders regularly listened to and sang slave spirituals.
C. Enslaved African Americans held their own illicit parties.
D. Enslaved African Americans regularly broke curfews and violated pass laws.