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.

Answer 1

The main idea of this passage is that the reasons given by slavery supporters are relative, not universal. If it is the right of a slaver to enslave someone with darker skin than him, then if he finds someone with fairer skin, the latter one would be entitled to enslave him, and so on. The "right" to support slavery are product of social circumstances, not natural ones, so they are not universal.

Answer 2

The answer is B. Arguments in favor of slavery are senseless