Source: Governor George McDuffie, message to the South Carolina Legislature, 1835.
"Domestic slavery, therefore, instead of being an evil, is the corner-stone of our republican edifice. It supersedes the necessity of an order of nobility, and all the other appendages of a hereditary system of government. . . . [It] establishes a class of people to perform all the low and menial offices of society, thereby leaving the citizens to be free to cultivate their minds and participate in the government."
Which of the following developments in the South during the first half of the nineteenth century best explains the perspective expressed in the excerpt?
- AThe transition from indentured servitude to chattel slavery as the primary source of agricultural labor.
- The rise of the cotton economy and the growth of northern abolitionist campaigns, which prompted Southern defenders to argue that slavery was a positive good.Answer
- CThe rapid growth of southern industrial centers that integrated enslaved labor into factory production.
- DThe resolution of sectional tariff disputes, which reassured Southern leaders that the federal government would protect the plantation economy.
Answer
The rise of the cotton economy and the growth of northern abolitionist campaigns, which prompted Southern defenders to argue that slavery was a positive good.
The correct answer is correct because Governor McDuffie’s assertion that slavery is a 'corner-stone of our republican edifice' reflects the ideological shift in the South from viewing slavery as a 'necessary evil' to defending it as a 'positive good.' This defensive posture was a direct response to the growing economic importance of the cotton kingdom and the rising moral critiques from northern abolitionist movements during the 1830s.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Southern Economy, Society, and the Defense of Slavery