ShmoopTube
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
Responses to Slavery Videos 7 videos
Which major contrasts does the excerpt highlight? Bonus points if you saluted and said "major contrast". Did you do it? Good, you've got the...gene...
AP U.S. History Exam 2.24. The goal of the author in writing the excerpt was to...what?
AP U.S. History Exam 1.21. By the time of the above map's creation in 1856, the political issue that dominated national conversation was...what?
AP U.S. History Exam 2.24 168 Views
Share It!
Description:
AP U.S. History Exam 2.24. The goal of the author in writing the excerpt was to...what?
Transcript
- 00:00
[ musical flourish ]
- 00:03
And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by cannibals,
- 00:07
people with a refined taste for, uh, canned goods.
- 00:12
[ sigh ]
- 00:13
All right, here's the excerpt.
Full Transcript
- 00:14
[ mumbles ]
- 00:18
[ mumbling continues ]
- 00:23
Okay, and the question:
- 00:24
The goal of the author in writing the excerpt was to... what?
- 00:28
And here are your potential answers.
- 00:30
[ mumbles ]
- 00:34
In the excerpt, Fitzhugh
- 00:36
argues that "the free laborer must be employed
- 00:39
or starve, yet no one is obliged to employ him.
- 00:43
The slave is taken care of,
- 00:46
whether employed or not."
- 00:47
All right, well, it seems like slaves wouldn't consider living under
- 00:50
the thumb of a violent master as being taken care of.
- 00:55
But let's see which answer best captures
- 00:58
Fitzhugh's not-so-worthy goal.
- 01:01
Was Fitzhugh's main intention in the excerpt to A -
- 01:05
criticize the use of free labor?
- 01:07
Well, while Fitzhugh does paint slavery as superior
- 01:10
to free labor, criticizing the North's economic system
- 01:13
doesn't seem to be the primary goal of the excerpt.
- 01:16
So A's out.
- 01:19
Is the main focus of the excerpt to C -
- 01:22
encourage the abolition of the slave trade?
- 01:24
Well, slavery was the dominant force in the Southern economy
- 01:27
and Fitzhugh certainly wouldn't advocate for its eradication.
- 01:30
So that gets rid of C.
- 01:32
Could Fitzhugh's primary goal have been to D -
- 01:34
highlight the difference between races?
- 01:37
Well, while some essayists employed
- 01:39
racial stereotypes to justify the institution of slavery,
- 01:43
this strategy wasn't used in this particular piece.
- 01:46
Which means the main goal of the excerpt was to B -
- 01:49
defend the institution of slavery.
- 01:51
On the eve of the Civil War, many Southerners took up arms
- 01:54
by writing essays to defend the institution of slavery,
- 01:57
praising it as an economic necessity for the Southern way of life.
- 02:01
So B is the answer.
- 02:03
And with the nation on the brink of collapse, these authors
- 02:05
used their words as weapons, believing the
- 02:07
pen to be mightier than the, uh, rifled muskets.
- 02:15
[ sigh ]
Related Videos
Ever heard of a "living document"? They eat and breathe just like the rest of us! They even walk around on their own two legs. Okay, fine—maybe t...
If the Puritans had gotten their way, religion would play a much larger role in lawmaking these days. Want to know more? Watch the video for all th...
What happened between the creation of the Articles of Confederation and the ratification of the current U.S. Constitution? This video analyzes the...
The Modernists thought the world had a lot of problems, and they were intent on fixing them—or at least talking about fixing them. Unfortunately,...
This video explains Federalism and the quest for a fair balance between state and national power. It covers the progression and compromises of Fede...