During the time of slavery in the United States,_________________________ were forced to work on plantations and in other forms of labor.

In exchange for their labor, plantation owners provided enslaved people with basic necessities such as _______________________________________

These provisions were given to ensure that enslaved people were able to continue working, as their labor was crucial for the ___________________________

However, it's important to understand that these _________________ were minimal and often of poor quality.

Some Southerners used the fact that enslaved people were provided with basic necessities to argue that slavery was _______________________ or a "positive good," for them.

Some Southerners claimed that enslaved Africans were ________________ under slavery because they were given food, shelter, and care, which they might not have had otherwise.

This argument was used to justify the _________________________ of slavery and to counter the growing abolitionist movement that sought to end slavery.

The idea of slavery as a "positive good" was a way for slave owners to defend their _______________________ and to avoid acknowledging the brutal and inhumane realities of the system.

Cause: Africans were provided life's basic necessities at no cost to them.