According to Sumner, what did one class owe to another?
What defi ned classes?
. What, according to Sumner, were the advantages of a “social structure . . . based
on contract”? What was the relationship between contracts and freedom?
“Rights do not pertain to results, but only to chances,” Sumner declared. Why
was that distinction important to him? Why did increasing chances create
greater inequality? Was great inequality therefore a sign of the health and
strength of American society? Why or why not?
