Question

"Still, though a slaveholder, I freely acknowledge my obligation as a man; and I am bound to treat humanely the fellow creatures whom God has entrusted to my charge ... It is certainly in the interest of all, and I am convinced it is the desire of every one of us, to treat our slaves with proper kindness."—Letter from former South Carolina governor James Henry Hammond, 1845 "Standing with God and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion, I will, in the name of humanity which is outraged, in the name of Liberty which is fettered, in the name of the constitution and Bible, which are disregarded, and trampled upon, dare to call in question and denounce ... slavery 'the great sin and shame of America'!"—Fredrick Douglass, from speech titled "The Meaning of July Fourth for the *****," 1852
The ideas of Hammond are most clearly an example of which of the following mid-19th century developments?
Select one:
a. The increasingly liberal nature of slavery after the South enforced stronger slave codes
b. The growing use by Northern antislavery activists of moral arguments
c. The increasing number of freed slaves in Southern states as a result of gradual emancipation laws
d. The growing tendency of Southern slaveholders to use the paternal ethos to justify slavery

Answer 1

B: The Growing use by northern antislavery activists of moral arguments.