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Difficulty: EasyIdeological and Legal Debates over Slavery

"The Southern institution of slavery is not a system of oppression, but a paternal one. The master feels a natural interest in the welfare of his laborer, whom he must support in infancy, sickness, and old age. The Northern manufacturer, on the contrary, dismisses his workmen when they are sick or when business is dull, leaving them to starve or rely on public charity. Our system protects the laborer from the uncertainties of the market and ensures his lifelong security."
— From a Southern essay defending the institution of slavery, 1855

The ideas expressed in the passage best reflect which of the following arguments used by Southern defenders of slavery in the 1850s?

  1. The assertion that slavery was a positive good that cared for workers better than Northern industrial capitalism.Answer
  2. B
    The belief that territorial expansion would naturally phase out slavery through the mechanism of popular sovereignty.
  3. C
    The argument that the primary source of sectional division was federal tariff policy rather than the labor system.
  4. D
    The claim that enslaved laborers possessed the same legal rights as Northern indentured servants.

Answer

The assertion that slavery was a positive good that cared for workers better than Northern industrial capitalism.
The correct option is correct because the author of the passage uses a classic paternalist argument, claiming that the system of chattel slavery is morally superior and more humane to laborers than Northern capitalism, which abandons its workers in times of hardship. This matches the positive good defense of slavery common in the South during the 1850s.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the source text to identify its primary claim.
The text compares Southern slavery favorably to Northern wage labor, emphasizing the lifelong security and care provided to enslaved people by paternalistic masters.
Understanding the central thesis of the stimulus is necessary to connect it to broader historical debates.
2
Compare the identified claim to mid-nineteenth-century ideological arguments over slavery.
The argument matches the paternalist positive good defense of slavery popular in the South in the 1850s, which criticized Northern wage labor as heartless capitalism.
This step contextualizes the document within the antebellum ideological landscape.
3
Evaluate the options to select the one that best matches this historical defense.
The option asserting that slavery was a positive good that cared for workers better than Northern industrial capitalism is the correct match.
This step ensures that the selected answer aligns with historical evidence and the details of the stimulus.

Key Concept

The positive good and paternalist defense of slavery in the antebellum United States.
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Topics

Ideological and Legal Debates over Slavery

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