In 1838, John C. Calhoun, a Senator and slave owner from South Carolina delivered a speech. It stated that the slaves and southern whites “secured peace and happiness of both” also stating that slaves would not have been able to become “civilized” without the influence of their white slave owners. However, this “civilization” Calhoun talks about is one based off of violence and oppression,   and, blacks did have a civilization before whites came, because many blacks that were slaves during the time of the civil war were descended from people who were forcefully taken away from their tribes and communities, proving that blacks could (and did) function without whites, thus, making the argument that whites “improved” black society, invalid. This proves that slavery is invalid because their rights were taken away from them. Calhoun wants to convince abolitionists that the relationship between slave owners and slave is a mutual relationship between them ,by convincing abolitionist then he can protect the slavery in his state and therefore will be able to maintain his slaves.

In this document, George Fitzhugh tries to explain that slavery was not as harsh as people made it to be. He says "The Negro slaves of the south [...] enjoy liberty, because they are oppressed neither by care nor labor". He uses statements that the slaves work no longer than 9 hours a day and have much free time, while the free laborer has to work longer and cannot have much free time or they would not survive through life. In the eyes of a plantation owner in the south, he will always believe that the way he treats his slaves is not wrong. He states that, ''Negro slaves of the south are the happiest'', but who would be happy being forced to work for someone you refer to as Master and watch them get rich as you live the same life everyday. George Fitzhugh is stating something that is invalid. The reason for it is because slaves didn't have the liberty that George mentions; also the slaves were treated bad for any reason, and for their work they never got paid like he mentions. George Fitzhugh blatantly defends the morality of slave owners’ treatment of slaves. By comparing the slave to the free laborers, Fitzhugh establishes a distinction between the slave and free, but poor, labor group in which the lines are clearly blurred. As a Virginian plantation owner, he cannot speak poorly of the slaves’ treatment without speaking poorly of himself. Also, his description of the work conditions the slaves endure only speak for his plantation; Virginia, one of the northern most slave states doesn’t have as hot as a climate as Texas, for example. Also taken into consideration is that his specific plantation’s land may require less time to tend. All of these factors feed into his personal point of view.