Refer to the passage. "It was not until 1841 that the great flow of emigrants began in the direction of New Zealand and Australia. The emigrants of 1832 chiefly went to Canada, and as yet the United States were practically unaffected by the rush. . . .

The population of the great towns has for the most part doubled itself in the last fifty years. London had then a million and a half; Liverpool, 200,000; Manchester, 250,000; Glasgow, 250,000; Birmingham, 150,000; Leeds, 140,000; and Bristol, 120,000.

Penal settlements were still flourishing. Between 1825 and 1840, when they were suppressed, 48,712 convicts were sent out to Sydney. As regards travelling, the fastest rate along the high roads was ten miles an hour. There were 54 four-horse mail coaches in England, and 49 two-horse mails. In Ireland there were 30 four-horse coaches, and 10 in Scotland. There were 3,026 stage coaches in the country, of which 1,507 started from London.

There were already 668 British steamers afloat, though the penny steamboat did not as yet ply upon the river. Heavy goods travelled by the canals and navigable rivers, of which there were 4,000 in Great Britain.”

Walter Besant, a British citizen analyzing the demographic and technological changes of the British Empire from 1837 to 1887

1. Which of the following conditions best accounts for the migration pattern to the United States described in the passage?

a. The United States was entrenched in a sectional crisis over slavery.
b. The United States was relatively unindustrialized and economically weak.
c. The United States was committed to the immigration ban on the British after the War of 1812.
d. The United States was largely concerned about British recolonization of the original 13 colonies.