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Quiz for American Voices: The Debate over Free and Slave Labor

Question

1. Which of the following sources made the argument that slavery is a “positive good”?

James Henry Hammond’s 1858 speech to the Senate

New York Protestant Episcopal Church Mission Society’s 1837 annual report

Horace Greeley’s 1845 letter declining to attend an antislavery convention

The 1859 editorial in the Staunton Spectator

Correct. The answer is a. In his 1858 speech to the Senate, James Henry Hammond argued that slavery was a benevolent institution that provided work and care for African Americans, whom he regarded as “inferior . . . but eminently qualified in temper, in vigor, in docility, in capacity to stand the climate, to answer all her purposes.” Slaves, he suggested, were better situated than free laborers, who suffered from poverty and unemployment.

Incorrect. The answer is a. In his 1858 speech to the Senate, James Henry Hammond argued that slavery was a benevolent institution that provided work and care for African Americans, whom he regarded as “inferior . . . but eminently qualified in temper, in vigor, in docility, in capacity to stand the climate, to answer all her purposes.” Slaves, he suggested, were better situated than free laborers, who suffered from poverty and unemployment.

Question

2. How might a member of the New York Protestant Episcopal Church Mission Society have responded to James Henry Hammond’s view of poor workers in New York?

He or she would have agreed with Hammond that New York’s workers were as miserable as slaves.

He or she would have challenged Hammond, suggesting that New York’s workers were even poorer than slaves.

He or she would have argued that poverty was a temporary condition in America, but that slavery was permanent.

He or she would have suggested that New York’s poor deserved their status, whereas slaves did not deserve to suffer as they did.

Correct. The answer is c. A member of this organization would have argued that poverty can be only a temporary condition in America and that any poor worker could choose to work his or her way into a better situation. He or she would likely have recognized that slavery was, in almost all cases, a permanent condition.

Incorrect. The answer is c. A member of this organization would have argued that poverty can be only a temporary condition in America and that any poor worker could choose to work his or her way into a better situation. He or she would likely have recognized that slavery was, in almost all cases, a permanent condition.

Question

3. On which of the following issues did James Henry Hammond and Horace Greeley clearly agree with one another?

African Americans were naturally inferior to whites.

Slavery was the ideal work system for the southern states.

Manual laborers in the North were more degraded than slaves.

Movements that opposed slavery were objectionable.

Correct. The answer is c. Both of these men argued that the conditions endured by manual laborers in the North were actually worse than those under which slaves lived.

Incorrect. The answer is c. Both of these men argued that the conditions endured by manual laborers in the North were actually worse than those under which slaves lived.

Question

4. According to the author of the Staunton Spectator editorial, what made slaves’ lives better than those of free blacks in the North?

The meaning slaves derived from their work

Slaves’ loving relationships with whites

The richness of black communities in the South

Whites’ commitment to maintaining their property

Correct. The answer is b. The author of this editorial suggests that slaves’ lives in the South were better than those of free northern blacks because they had affectionate and meaningful relationships with the whites who protected and respected them.

Incorrect. The answer is b. The author of this editorial suggests that slaves’ lives in the South were better than those of free northern blacks because they had affectionate and meaningful relationships with the whites who protected and respected them.

Question

5. Based on the evidence presented in these sources, what is the most likely reason why James Henry Hammond did not want to free his black mistress and the children that he and his son fathered with her?

Hammond loved them all so much he could not bear to have them leave his plantation.

He believed they would receive better treatment as “family slaves” than as free blacks.

Hammond did not want the woman or her children to have to perform any work.

He wanted to live openly with them as his wife, children, and grandchildren.

Correct. The answer is b. Hammond said, “I cannot free these people & send them North. It would be cruelty to them.” He believed that free blacks in the North suffered more miserable lives than his slaves because of poverty and racism, and he wanted to spare his mistress and her children from that fate.

Incorrect. The answer is b. Hammond said, “I cannot free these people & send them North. It would be cruelty to them.” He believed that free blacks in the North suffered more miserable lives than his slaves because of poverty and racism, and he wanted to spare his mistress and her children from that fate.