Your answer is Economy, the system of production and distribution and consumption of goods and services.
Answer: Fourteenth Amendment.
Explanation:
Southern states strongly contested the Fourteenth Amendment, and were finally forced to ratify it as a condition to be able to return their delegations to Congress. The amendment had ben proposed in 1866 and was ratified in 1868 to adress the situation of freedmen following the war, proposing citizenship rights and equality of the laws.
The school of thought that would most likely agree with uncle John is behaviorism.
Behaviorists believed that every type of action and behavior should be observed so as to be researched. If it cannot be directly observed, it doesn't require particular attention because it is not as relevant. Some famous behaviorists are Skinner, Watson, Pavlov, etc.
What made it self-sufficient was whether it had enough land and serfs which could produce enough food for people to survive on the amount of food that they would produce.