The whole machinery of slavery discouraged white self-reliance. It made labor a badge of degradation and inferiority. To my knowledge, not one of James Buroughs's many children ever mastered a single trade or craft. In general, slave
owners and their children learned no skills or trades. From cooking and sewing to carpentry and farming, manual labor
was left to slaves. When freedom finally came, many former slaves were almost as well prepared to begin life anew as
their former masters, except with regard to literacy and ownership of property.
2. The main idea of the excerpt is
a. because of slavery, Southern whites lacked humility and motivation with regard to labor.
b. James Burroughs's children were not interested in labor.
c. before slavery ended, slaves handled almost all manual labor in the South.
d. when slavery ended, former slaves and Southern whites were in some ways on equal footing.