Question

this passage reflects pro - slavery arguments used to defend slavery in the 1800s. it should be read as an example of southern justification for slavery, not as a factual account of enslaved life.
george fitzhugh, a pro - slavery argument, 1857
\the negro slaves of the south are the happiest, and, in some sense, the freest people in the world. the children and the aged and infirm work not at all, and yet have all the comforts and necessaries of life provided for them. they enjoy liberty, because they are oppressed neither by care nor labor. the women do little hard work, and are protected from the despotism of their husbands by their masters.
the negro men and stout boys work, on the average, in good weather, not more than nine hours a day. the balance of their time is spent in perfect abandon. besides, they have their sabbaths and holidays... the wily and watchful capitalist is devising means to ensnare and exploit them.
the free laborer must work or starve. he is more of a slave than the negro because he works longer and harder for less allowance than the slave and has no holiday, because the cares of life with him begin when its labors end. he has no liberty, and not a single right.\
fitzhugh, george. \a pro - slavery argument, 1857.\ america in class. national humanities center, 2007. https://americainclass.org/a - pro - slavery - argument/.
which of the following 19th - century developments would fitzhugh most likely have cited to support his argument in the excerpt?
select one answer
a the harsh working conditions in northern factories during the industrial revolution.

b the growing abolitionist movement led by reformers such as william lloyd garrison.

c the expansion of the free labor ideology in the emerging republican party.

d the economic shift toward sharecropping after the civil war.

Explanation:

Fitzhugh’s argument defends slavery by contrasting enslaved people’s supposed "comfort" with the exploitation of free laborers. Harsh Northern factory conditions (A) align with his claim that free workers face worse oppression (longer hours, no security) than enslaved people. B (abolitionism) and C (free labor ideology) are oppositional to his pro-slavery view. D (sharecropping post-Civil War) occurred after 1857, so it’s irrelevant to his 1857 argument.

Answer:

A. The harsh working conditions in Northern factories during the Industrial Revolution.