Question

By the mid-nineteenth century _____

a. most southerners owned slaves.
b. the smaller slaveholders owned a majority of the slaves.
c. most slaves lived on large plantations.
d. slavery was a dying institution.
e. southerners were growing defensive about slavery.

Answer 1

By the mid-19th century, the majority of slaves resided on large plantations (option c), with slavery deeply incorporated into the southern economy due to the cotton industry. The institution was not dying, rather it was defended and justified by southern society amid economic and sectional tensions.

Step-by-step explanation:

By the mid-nineteenth century, most slaves lived on large plantations. This assertion aligns with the historical context provided, indicating that slavery was more deeply entrenched in the Deep South, with a larger number of both slaveholders and enslaved people. Although a small White elite owned most enslaved people, and the wealth from slavery became increasingly concentrated, slavery as an institution was far from dying. On the contrary, the cotton boom and the expansion of slavery into new territories amplified the economic entrenchment of slavery and led to a defensive posture by southerners regarding the institution.


Southern culture and society, resting on a racial ideology of White supremacy, valued the domination of others and the protection of White womanhood. As such, southern attitudes towards slavery grew increasingly defensive as they sought to maintain and justify this system in the face of mounting opposition and the internal economic boom driven by cotton.