Throughout the chapter, the main theme is slavery and the conflicts surrounding it. As with any conflict there are two or more sides, in the case of slavery the two sides are: the abolitionists who wanted to end slavery and then those who supported slavery. Ironically both sides used the same notions to support their position they simply had various opinions of those notions. Despite their disagreements both sides in the end wanted the same thing, better working and living conditions.

The views of Cato is an example of how both sides campaigned using the same notions but from different views. Supporters of slavery such as John Quincy Adams took Cato’s use of the words Delenda est Carthago [“Carthage must be destroyed”] as a comparison to