Question

Read Abraham Lincoln’s “A Fragment on Slavery.” What is the main idea of this passage? If A can prove, however conclusively, that he may of right enslave B, why may not B snatch the same argument and prove equally that he may enslave A? You say A is white and B is black. It is colour, then; the lighter having the right to enslave the darker? Take care. By this rule you are to be slave to the first man you meet with a fairer skin than your own. You do not mean colour exactly? You mean the whites are intellectually the superiors of the blacks, and therefore have the right to enslave them? Take care again. By this rule you are to be slave to the first man you meet with an intellect superior to your own. But, say you, it is a question of interest, and if you make it your interest you have the right to enslave another. Very well. And if he can make it his interest he has the right to enslave you. A. Different forms of slavery exist. B. Arguments in favor of slavery are senseless. C. Slaves are subjected to inhumane treatment. D. Landowners are disrespectful of slaves.

Answer 1

B. Arguments in favor of slavery are senseless.

Lincoln demonstrates int eh passage that every argument for the existence of slavery as it stood in the US could be easily countered or reversed. This shows that the arguments for slavery were weak and "senseless".

Lincoln belong to the Free-Soil Party before the Republican Party was created. Free-Soilers did not want slavery to extend any further than it had already existed in the 1850's. Essentially they didn't want it to go into the new territories. They believed that slavery was a dying institution and if not allowed to grow it would smother itself out. As Lincoln became president, his views began to include more of a moral stance suggesting enslaving another person was wrong.

Answer 2

Answer:

The answer is B