Question 1

Which statement best describes how the majority of the southern slaveholding elite in the 1830s had acquired their wealth?

Accepted Answer

A)  Almost all slave owners had inherited their wealth. 
B)  Almost all slave owners were self-made men. 
C)  About half of the slave owners inherited great wealth, and about half earned it. 
D)  Slave owners nearly all first made their fortunes in business before they bought slaves. 
A)  Almost all slave owners had inherited their wealth. 
B)  Almost all slave owners were self-made men. 
C)  About half of the slave owners inherited great wealth, and about half earned it. 
D)  Slave owners nearly all first made their fortunes in business before they bought slaves.

Question 2

Which of these best explains the rapid growth of the slave population in the American South relative to other nineteenth-century New World slave societies?

Accepted Answer

A)  higher fertility of enslaved African American women 
B)  better food given to African American slaves 
C)  greater number of slaves imported from Africa 
D)  better housing provided to African American slaves 
A)  higher fertility of enslaved African American women 
B)  better food given to African American slaves 
C)  greater number of slaves imported from Africa 
D)  better housing provided to African American slaves

Question 3

Which statement best explains why yeoman farmers with no slaves still supported the slave system that mainly benefited wealthy planters?

Accepted Answer

A)  Planters and non‒slave-owning yeomen shared a belief in white skin privilege. 
B)  The democratization of politics made the gap between rich and poor largely disappear. 
C)  Non‒slave owners often became as wealthy as or wealthier than slave-owning planters. 
D)  Yeoman farmers saw capitalism and industrialization, not farming with slave labor, as their best path to wealth. 
A)  Planters and non‒slave-owning yeomen shared a belief in white skin privilege. 
B)  The democratization of politics made the gap between rich and poor largely disappear. 
C)  Non‒slave owners often became as wealthy as or wealthier than slave-owning planters. 
D)  Yeoman farmers saw capitalism and industrialization, not farming with slave labor, as their best path to wealth.

Question 4

The U.S. Constitution __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  explicitly legalizes slavery 
B)  refers to slavery in three places, but only indirectly 
C)  ignores the issue of slavery altogether 
D)  gives Congress the power to regulate slavery in the states 
A)  explicitly legalizes slavery 
B)  refers to slavery in three places, but only indirectly 
C)  ignores the issue of slavery altogether 
D)  gives Congress the power to regulate slavery in the states

Question 5

Prior to the Civil War, what fraction of white families owned slaves?

Accepted Answer

A)  one-tenth 
B)  one-third 
C)  two-fifths 
D)  two-thirds 
A)  one-tenth 
B)  one-third 
C)  two-fifths 
D)  two-thirds

Question 6

A common defense of the institution of slavery by slave owners was that __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  slaves were treated better than northern industrial workers 
B)  slaves were becoming Christianized and thus their souls would be saved 
C)  slave children played with white children 
D)  slaves lived better on southern plantations than the natives in Africa 
A)  slaves were treated better than northern industrial workers 
B)  slaves were becoming Christianized and thus their souls would be saved 
C)  slave children played with white children 
D)  slaves lived better on southern plantations than the natives in Africa

Question 7

Why were planters around Natchez, Mississippi, known by the Hindi term "nabob"?

Accepted Answer

A)  The Hindi word described Europeans who had amassed fabulous wealth in India. 
B)  Many of them had first made their fortunes in India. 
C)  Mississippi, like India, based its wealth on cotton. 
D)  Well-educated Southerners commonly referenced historical "great empires" to describe their society. 
A)  The Hindi word described Europeans who had amassed fabulous wealth in India. 
B)  Many of them had first made their fortunes in India. 
C)  Mississippi, like India, based its wealth on cotton. 
D)  Well-educated Southerners commonly referenced historical "great empires" to describe their society.

Question 8

The term "plain folk" was used to refer to __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  the urban middle class 
B)  planters 
C)  yeoman farmers 
D)  the landless poor 
A)  the urban middle class 
B)  planters 
C)  yeoman farmers 
D)  the landless poor

Question 9

Why were southern yeomen so resistant to the forces of capitalism and industrialization that shaped the lives of northern farmers?

Accepted Answer

A)  They perceived these developments as encroachments on their own personal freedom. 
B)  They believed these developments reinforced slavery in the South. 
C)  They thought these developments made the planter society in the South even richer. 
D)  They understood that accepting these developments would only widen the economic gap between their own class and poor whites. 
A)  They perceived these developments as encroachments on their own personal freedom. 
B)  They believed these developments reinforced slavery in the South. 
C)  They thought these developments made the planter society in the South even richer. 
D)  They understood that accepting these developments would only widen the economic gap between their own class and poor whites.

Question 10

From the 1830s onward, how did the southern slave system change?

Accepted Answer

A)  Slaves cost more, so class divisions increased. 
B)  Slave prices fell, and more Southerners became slave owners. 
C)  The plantation system became most profitable in the Upper South. 
D)  Slavery became increasingly unprofitable in the Lower South. 
A)  Slaves cost more, so class divisions increased. 
B)  Slave prices fell, and more Southerners became slave owners. 
C)  The plantation system became most profitable in the Upper South. 
D)  Slavery became increasingly unprofitable in the Lower South.

Question 11

The planter elite consciously worked to create a lifestyle that resembled the __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  French aristocracy 
B)  Creole aristocracy 
C)  English aristocracy 
D)  newly rich in the North 
A)  French aristocracy 
B)  Creole aristocracy 
C)  English aristocracy 
D)  newly rich in the North

Question 12

Which statement best describes the actions of state legislatures throughout the South in the 1830s?

Accepted Answer

A)  Legislatures tightened restrictions on both free and enslaved African Americans. 
B)  Legislatures encouraged manumission by offering tax incentives to free slaves. 
C)  Legislatures debated the merits of the gradual abolition of slavery, but ultimately took no action. 
D)  Legislatures took steps to re-enslave some free African Americans and force others to migrate to the North. 
A)  Legislatures tightened restrictions on both free and enslaved African Americans. 
B)  Legislatures encouraged manumission by offering tax incentives to free slaves. 
C)  Legislatures debated the merits of the gradual abolition of slavery, but ultimately took no action. 
D)  Legislatures took steps to re-enslave some free African Americans and force others to migrate to the North.

Question 13

Which statement best describes how the expansion of cotton production in the South affected industry in the North?

Accepted Answer

A)  Profits from the slave trade and cotton shipping and brokerage provided capital for new factories in the North. 
B)  Northern industry declined as most southern cotton was shipped to England. 
C)  Wealthy Northerners chose to invest in southern plantations rather than in factories in the North. 
D)  Many successful planters invested their profits in northern industry and abandoned cotton planting. 
A)  Profits from the slave trade and cotton shipping and brokerage provided capital for new factories in the North. 
B)  Northern industry declined as most southern cotton was shipped to England. 
C)  Wealthy Northerners chose to invest in southern plantations rather than in factories in the North. 
D)  Many successful planters invested their profits in northern industry and abandoned cotton planting.

Question 14

One reason for the persistence of slavery in the South was that __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  a child born of a slave was legally a slave 
B)  the international slave trade grew rapidly after 1808 
C)  free blacks were seized and enslaved 
D)  Indian slaves replaced black slaves after 1808 
A)  a child born of a slave was legally a slave 
B)  the international slave trade grew rapidly after 1808 
C)  free blacks were seized and enslaved 
D)  Indian slaves replaced black slaves after 1808

Question 15

About what percentage of the slave population of the Upper South was uprooted and sold to the Lower South in the internal slave trade between 1820 and 1860?

Accepted Answer

A)  50 percent 
B)  10 percent 
C)  25 percent 
D)  90 percent 
A)  50 percent 
B)  10 percent 
C)  25 percent 
D)  90 percent

Question 16

What was the lasting effect that slave revolts had on white Southerners?

Accepted Answer

A)  Whites believed they could never be completely safe from slave revolts. 
B)  To white southerners, slave rebellions were trivial because they always ended in defeat for the slaves involved and did not result in white fatalities. 
C)  Local legal officials and white slaveowners banned slaves from participating in organized religious ceremonies or from listening to black preachers. 
D)  White slave owners began to make offers of manumission to larger numbers of slaves after Nat Turner's rebellion ended so that their slaves would stop organizing additional revolts. 
A)  Whites believed they could never be completely safe from slave revolts. 
B)  To white southerners, slave rebellions were trivial because they always ended in defeat for the slaves involved and did not result in white fatalities. 
C)  Local legal officials and white slaveowners banned slaves from participating in organized religious ceremonies or from listening to black preachers. 
D)  White slave owners began to make offers of manumission to larger numbers of slaves after Nat Turner's rebellion ended so that their slaves would stop organizing additional revolts.

Question 17

Hinton Rowan Helper's The Impending Crisis (1857) was __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  an attack on northern abolitionists and manufacturers 
B)  an attack on slavery by a native Southerner 
C)  an attack on slavery by a northern abolitionist 
D)  a protest against the congressional "gag rule" 
A)  an attack on northern abolitionists and manufacturers 
B)  an attack on slavery by a native Southerner 
C)  an attack on slavery by a northern abolitionist 
D)  a protest against the congressional "gag rule"

Question 18

Before universal manhood suffrage became more common in the 1820s, Southern politics was largely controlled by __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  the slave-owning elite 
B)  southern land speculators 
C)  the professional class 
D)  the small slave owners 
A)  the slave-owning elite 
B)  southern land speculators 
C)  the professional class 
D)  the small slave owners

Question 19

The expansion of slavery in the Old Southwest was directly linked to __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  the expansion of cotton production 
B)  the growth of a diverse economy 
C)  rapid urbanization 
D)  the international slave trade 
A)  the expansion of cotton production 
B)  the growth of a diverse economy 
C)  rapid urbanization 
D)  the international slave trade

Question 20

Who deserves the most credit for ameliorating the inhumane conditions created by the southern slave system?

Accepted Answer

A)  African Americans 
B)  plantation mistresses 
C)  southern state lawmakers 
D)  northern abolitionists 
A)  African Americans 
B)  plantation mistresses 
C)  southern state lawmakers 
D)  northern abolitionists

Exam 10: The South and Slavery

Which statement best describes how the majority of the southern slaveholding elite in the 1830s had acquired their wealth?

Which of these best explains the rapid growth of the slave population in the American South relative to other nineteenth-century New World slave societies?

Which statement best explains why yeoman farmers with no slaves still supported the slave system that mainly benefited wealthy planters?

The U.S. Constitution __________.

Prior to the Civil War, what fraction of white families owned slaves?

A common defense of the institution of slavery by slave owners was that __________.

Why were planters around Natchez, Mississippi, known by the Hindi term "nabob"?

The term "plain folk" was used to refer to __________.

Why were southern yeomen so resistant to the forces of capitalism and industrialization that shaped the lives of northern farmers?

From the 1830s onward, how did the southern slave system change?

The planter elite consciously worked to create a lifestyle that resembled the __________.

Which statement best describes the actions of state legislatures throughout the South in the 1830s?

Which statement best describes how the expansion of cotton production in the South affected industry in the North?

One reason for the persistence of slavery in the South was that __________.

About what percentage of the slave population of the Upper South was uprooted and sold to the Lower South in the internal slave trade between 1820 and 1860?

What was the lasting effect that slave revolts had on white Southerners?

Hinton Rowan Helper's The Impending Crisis (1857) was __________.

Before universal manhood suffrage became more common in the 1820s, Southern politics was largely controlled by __________.

The expansion of slavery in the Old Southwest was directly linked to __________.

Who deserves the most credit for ameliorating the inhumane conditions created by the southern slave system?

A Continent of Villages

When Worlds Collide

Planting Colonies in North America

Slavery and Empire

The Cultures of Colonial North America

From Empire to Independence

The American Revolution

The New Nation

An Empire for Liberty

The Growth of Democracy

Industry and the North

Immigration

The Territorial Expansion of the United States

The Coming Crisis

The Civil War

Reconstruction

The Trans-Mississippi West

Production and Consumption in the Gilded Age

Democracy and Empire

Urban America and the Progressive Era

The United States in the Era of the Great War

The Twenties

The Great Depression and the New Deal

World War Ii

The Cold War Begins

America at Mid-Century

The Civil Rights Movement

War Abroad

The Conservative Ascendancy

Inequality in the Global Age

Filters