Question

Pick one of the following factors that is shown playing a role in the enslavement of Solomon Northup. Choose among political, economic, religious, social, and ideological. How does the story told by the film reflect the factor you identified? Be specific. For extra credit, pick a second factor and describe how the film reflects that factor.

a) The film portrays the economic factors as driving Northup's enslavement, with his labor being exploited for profit.

b) The film highlights the political factors as Northup's legal rights are ignored, contributing to his enslavement.

c) The film emphasizes the social factors, showing how societal norms and prejudices played a role in Northup's enslavement.

d) The film depicts the ideological factors as the primary reason for Northup's enslavement, as his captors held certain beliefs about race and slavery.

Answer 1

The film reflecting Solomon Northup's enslavement shows the economic factors of labor exploitation for profit and ideological factors where racial ideologies justified slavery. option a.

Step-by-step explanation:

The enslavement of Solomon Northup, as portrayed in the film, reflects both economic and ideological factors. Northup's narrative demonstrates how his labor was economically exploited for profit, highlighting the substantial economic implications that slavery had on the South's agrarian society.

Plantation owners relied heavily on the enforced labor of enslaved individuals to maintain the production of lucrative cash crops like cotton and tobacco. This made economic factors a vital component in the perpetuation of slavery.

Furthermore, the film depicts the ideological justifications for slavery. Northup's captors, and many in the slaveholding South, adhered to a racial ideology that African Americans were inherently inferior and suited for enslavement.

This belief system was used both to rationalize and perpetuate the institution of slavery, exemplifying how ideological views were deeply intertwined with the social fabric and legal structures of the time.

So option A is correct.