rap2016_ch12

Quiz for Document 12–1: Abraham Lincoln, Address before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, September 30, 1859

Choose the best answer to each question.

1. What did Lincoln believe to be the unique characteristic of the free-labor system?

Free labor acknowledged the primacy of capital in a market economy.

Free labor rejected the notion that individuals could be owners of capital.

Free labor rested on the assumption that free labor required universal education.

Free labor was borne specifically out of the qualities of white Americans.

2. Which of the following correctly describes Lincoln’s opinion on working in agriculture?

It would be better for people to pursue intellectual endeavors rather than agriculture.

It was a pleasant and exhilarating process of discovery and study.

Factory work was superior and would soon replace agricultural work.

It was the foundation of American democratic principles.

3. In Lincoln’s opinion, how did the “mud-sill” theory of labor view the laborer?

Like a blind animal plodding along uninterested and unthinking

As an expendable part of the process

Like a small child in need of firm discipline and strict rules

As the most valuable parts of the economy

4. According to Lincoln, what would be the result of a strong free-labor system in the United States?

The abolition of slavery

Massive industrialization in the cities

A strong economy and good foreign trade

Political and social prosperity and happiness