WhbeThe Character of Slavery Reading and Questions (35pts)

AP US History: Slavery
Sean Oulashin (Period 3)

1. Read Page 306 “Character of Slavery.

2. Read Documents 1 & 2: On a separate piece of paper restate the questions below and answer.

1. What similarities and differences do you find btwn the regimentation of the factory workers at
Lowell and the status of slaves?
In the Lowell factory system, the primary source of work came from woman who were
nearing adulthood. The women in the Lowell factories were also being educated. In slavery, both
men and women are forced to work. Both slavery and the Lowell system often offer up very bad
and dangerous working conditions, but on the contrary, the workers in the northern mills
generally had a higher standard of living.

2. How did the objectives of the plantation owner differ the objectives of those who owned the
mills at Lowell?
A plantation owner wishes for his farm to be plentiful and successful with the aid of
slaves. In the mills at Lowell, they were producing textile because the textile industry was
booming and there was a great demand for the product.

3. What analogy was the South fond of drawing btwn the factory and plantation?
The slave were under the impression that they were treated better - they were provided
with housing and food in their stomachs, when the workers that were not slaves were not
provided for by owners, rather, they were on their own.

4. In regards to Document 1:
a) What evidence can you find to indicate classes among slaves?
“It may be true, that among the wealthier slave-owners there is oftener a humane
disposition, a better judgment, and a greater ability to deal with their dependents indulgently and
bountifully, but the effects of this disposition are chiefly felt, even on those plantations where the
proprietor resides permanently, among the slaves employed about the house and stables, and
perhaps a few old favorites in the quarters.” This quote is stating that the slaveowners that were
wealthier than others tended to treat their slaves better.
Slaves that worked in houses were treated better, because they were inside.

b) How this excerpt relates to the theories advanced by Elkins, Fogel, and Engerman from pg
306
The theories of Elkins, Fogel, and Engerman are describing the harsh working conditions
that the slaves had to endure. Though Fogel describes it as a good experience, Elkins says
otherwise. At one point, Elkins points out that the thing that the slaves were put through were
“similar to the conditions of the Nazi concentration camps.”

5. In regards to Document 2:
a) Using pg 306 and document 2. Discuss how slavery apparently changed blacks, and what
elements of the system brought these changes about.
The kind of change the blacks experienced was that they were more obedient, and, as
mentioned in Document 2, rarely were whipped. They learned how to have discipline. Only
when a simple misunderstanding arose were they struck.

b) Using all the readings. Would you call slavery a brutal system or, as many southerners
contended, (Including Joseph B. Cobb) a “Positive Good”?
Slavery was, looking at it from a large prospective, inhumane and morally wrong. But, on
the contrary, according to Document 2, the changes that occurred within the African - American
slave community was a “positive good,” forcing them to become more obedient. In that sense,
because it taught them diligence and discipline, it can be looked at as more of a learning
experience. If you subject humans to the kind of inhumane treatments of the plantation owners of
the 1800’s, you will receive discipline from it. It does not make slavery a good thing.
According to the Character of Slaver on page 306 in the textbook, it argues that slavery
was a horrible institution, comparing it to the horrific Nazi concentration camps. The conditions
were horrible, and humans were being abused. But as stated before, it was mostly a learning
experience, but still not a positive good.