Question

shaw argues in her essay that in an attempt to protect and care for their children, enslaved mothers paradoxically reinforced the slave system in all the following ways except:

they provided food, clothing, and shelter to children beyond what the owners provided, which allowed owners to save money
they taught children how to work, thus preparing children for a future of work as slaves
they devised childcare arrangements that allowed them to keep up with their work, so owners did not lose work time to childcare
they practiced abortion and infanticide, thus saving the owners the expense of having to financially support slave children too young to work

Explanation:

Analyze the prompt and the paradox

The question asks for the exception to the ways enslaved mothers paradoxically reinforced the slave system while attempting to protect and care for their children, according to Shaw's essay. The paradox lies in actions meant for care/survival that inadvertently benefited the slaveholders economically or structurally (e.g., saving them maintenance costs, training future labor, or preventing lost labor time).

Evaluate the options

• Option 1: Providing extra food, clothing, and shelter kept children alive and healthy at less expense to the owner, thus reinforcing the system.
• Option 2: Teaching children how to work prepared them to be productive laborers for the owner, reinforcing the system.
• Option 3: Devising childcare arrangements kept mothers working, preventing lost labor time for the owner, reinforcing the system.
• Option 4: Practicing abortion and infanticide would deny the owner future labor and property, which directly resisted and undermined the slave system rather than reinforcing it. Furthermore, it did not save owners the expense of supporting young children in a way that reinforced the system's profitability.

Identify the exception

The practice of abortion and infanticide represents a form of resistance that denied labor and property to slaveholders, making it the correct exception to actions that "reinforced the slave system."

Answer:

• (A) They provided food, clothing, and shelter to children beyond what the owners provided, which allowed owners to save money
• (B) They taught children how to work, thus preparing children for a future of work as slaves
• (C) They devised childcare arrangements that allowed them to keep up with their work, so owners did not lose work time to childcare
• (D) They practiced abortion and infanticide, thus saving the owners the expense of having to financially support slave children too young to work (Correct answer)