Deck 9: The Old South, 1790-1850

Question 1

The inventor of the cotton gin was

A)James Henry Hammond.
B)Eli Whitney.
C)Samuel Slater.
D)Richard Arkwright.
E)Thomas Edison.

Answer 1

Eli Whitney.

Question 2

The leader of the aborted slave rebellion in South Carolina in 1822 was

A)Nat Turner.
B)Gabriel.
C)Denmark Vesey.
D)Frederick Douglass.
E)none of these choices

Answer 2

Denmark Vesey.

Question 3

By 1834, the cotton belt produced more than ____ of the cotton in the United States.

A)30 percent.
B)40 percent.
C)50 percent.
D)70 percent.
E)90 percent.

Answer 3

50 percent.

Question 4

The Denmark Vesey slave revolt failed when

A)Vesey was killed.
B)a white overseer overheard the plotters.
C)a letter from Vesey was intercepted by authorities.
D)Vesey was sold by his master.
E)slaves betrayed the plotters.

Question 5

In slave Christianity the "liberator" was

A)Jesus.
B)Abraham.
C)John the Baptist.
D)Moses.
E)Mary.

Question 6

Which of the following most made the southwest cotton belt possible?

A)initiative of planters
B)initiative of small farmers
C)reluctance of farmers to move west
D)the support of the national government
E)none of these choices

Question 7

The international slave trade ended in

A)1790.
B)1803.
C)1808.
D)1812.
E)1852.

Question 8

In the cotton belt, planters

A)moved away from the task system.
B)generally permitted slaves to keep small gardens.
C)had less control over their slaves than in the Chesapeake.
D)sought to diversify their agriculture.
E)worked their slaves less than did coastal planters.

Question 9

In 1790, Chesapeake planters saw falling prices for

A)cotton.
B)corn.
C)wheat.
D)tobacco.
E)livestock.

Question 10

Between 1790 and 1850, the southern planters became more dependent on

A)France.
B)Britain.
C)Spain.
D)Mexico.
E)Portugal.

Question 11

A common calculation that separated planters from yeoman farmers was that a planter owned

A)five slaves.
B)ten slaves.
C)twenty slaves.
D)fifty slaves.
E)one hundred slaves.

Question 12

The primary reason Chesapeake slaves were sold was

A)to make money for the owner.
B)as punishment.
C)to reduce the threat of rebellions.
D)to control the overall slave population.
E)to become "breeders."

Question 13

Christianity as practiced by slaves was

A)similar to that of their masters.
B)at variance with that of their masters.
C)exactly the same as that of their masters.
D)dependant on white preachers.
E)a call for violent revolution to bring on the end of the world.

Question 14

Compared to long-staple cotton, short-staple cotton was

A)more delicate.
B)only cultivated on the Sea Islands.
C)unprofitable before the 1790s.
D)easy to process by hand.
E)all of these choices

Question 15

For the most part, owners ____ slave marriages.

A)encouraged
B)discouraged
C)gave little thought to
D)did not sanction
E)forced

Question 16

Between 1780 and 1810, the slave population in Virginia saw

A)an increase in both free and enslaved blacks.
B)a decrease in both free and enslaved blacks.
C)an equal number of free and enslaved blacks.
D)more free than enslaved blacks.
E)a decrease in free blacks but an increase in enslaved blacks.

Question 17

In 1799, a major slave revolt was carried out in

A)Virginia.
B)Cuba.
C)Haiti.
D)Florida.
E)Brazil.

Question 18

The large slave rebellion that began in Southampton, Virginia, in 1831 under the leadership of a Baptist lay minister was known as the

A)Nat Turner Revolt.
B)Denmark Vesey Revolt.
C)Swamplands Revolt.
D)Gullah Revolt.
E)Southampton Revolt.

Question 19

Under the task system of slavery

A)masters allowed slaves to chose their work.
B)slaves were unlikely to be punished.
C)slaves worked less hard than under the gang system.
D)one master would watch over slaves working on several plantations at one time.
E)slaves were assigned daily specific work to be done.

Question 20

Slave rebellions had little chance of success in the southern United States because

A)plantations were generally enclosed by fences.
B)the white population was large.
C)slaves were more interested in freedom in the next world.
D)slaves were chained together at night.
E)few whites had weapons.

Question 21

Which of the following best describes the Middle Passage?

A)pleasant
B)short
C)clean
D)horrific
E)quick

Question 22

There was a heavy emphasis on ____ in southern society.

A)wealth
B)family
C)religion
D)political affiliation
E)gender

Question 23

Successful slave owners found that the easiest way to control their slaves was through

A)terror and draconian discipline (whippings and even murder).
B)treating slaves like little children.
C)educating and training slaves to encourage feelings of self-worth.
D)giving slaves their freedom and paying them wages.
E)offering slaves limited independence and privileges in return for their labor and obedience.

Question 24

Under the task system in the early nineteenth century, a slave was expected to tend ____ acre(s) of rice daily.

A)one
B)two
C)three
D)four
E)five

Question 25

The system of master-slave relations that developed in the nineteenth-century United States is best described as

A)paternal.
B)mutual dependence.
C)maternal.
D)fraternal.
E)social.

Question 26

"Georgia traders" were speculators who bought slaves in ____ and sold them in the lower South.

A)Florida
B)Upper South
C)Caribbean
D)Africa
E)South America

Question 27

In the counties of upland Georgia, most farmers owned ____ slaves.

A)no
B)1
C)2
D)5
E)20

Question 28

All of the following states became net exporters of slaves except

A)Kentucky.
B)Georgia.
C)Virginia.
D)South Carolina.
E)Maryland.

Question 29

The primary crop of the lowcountry was

A)tobacco.
B)rice.
C)cotton.
D)wheat.
E)potatoes.

Question 30

In 1860, the value of southern slaves exceeded the investments in

A)banking.
B)railroads.
C)manufacturing.
D)all of these choices
E)none of these choices

Question 31

In regards to American slaves and Christianity

A)in 1800, one in five Methodists were black.
B)no black could be a preacher.
C)congregations were never integrated.
D)in 1820, there were 700 independent black churches.
E)all of these choices

Question 32

After 1820, southern state laws gave slaves the right to

A)sue another slave.
B)Sundays off.
C)own a garden.
D)buy their freedom.
E)sell extra items to other slaves.

Question 33

Antebellum southern society placed its greatest importance on

A)honoring obligations.
B)individual achievement.
C)personal freedom.
D)gender equality.
E)social progress.

Question 34

All of the following statements are true except

A)cotton requires a long growing season.
B)cotton ripens evenly.
C)cotton requires lots of attention.
D)cotton has a long harvest season.
E)cotton was well suited to slave labor.

Question 35

At Thomas Jefferson's Monticello

A)most young children lived with both parents.
B)slaves were segregated by sex.
C)slaves that were sold were always sold as families.
D)children were sold as soon as they could work.
E)few slaves were allowed to marry.

Question 36

Slave families were always

A)large.
B)small.
C)vulnerable.
D)recognized.
E)discouraged.

Question 37

Southern slaves

A)had no distinct culture.
B)essentially imitated white culture.
C)created their own culture, which included religious piety and African-style songs and folk magic.
D)were brutalized to the extent that they became irresponsible and childlike.
E)never openly resisted slavery.

Question 38

The whipping of slaves was

A)regulated by law.
B)a common form of punishment.
C)reserved for runaways and thieves.
D)unheard of outside of the deep South.
E)banned after 1848.

Question 39

Which of the following states was not a major producer of cotton?

A)Alabama
B)Texas
C)Mississippi
D)Louisiana
E)North Carolina

Question 40

Among white southern males

A)the attainment of wealth was highest achievement possible.
B)drinking liquor was considered a sign of moral weakness.
C)first names were always taken from their paternal grandfather.
D)those who were most educated were held in the highest esteem.
E)one's reputation and honor was paramount.

Question 41

Denmark Vesey was betrayed by slaves.

Question 42

The Lowcountry was not a center of plantation slavery.

Question 43

In 1860, the southern slave population was collectively worth $1.3 billion.

Question 44

In the cotton belt few planters retained the task system.

Question 45

Compared to long-staple cotton, short-staple cotton was more hardy.

Question 46

Cotton belt planters did little to improve the cultivation of cotton.

Question 47

When the international slave trade ended, an internal slave trade developed.

Question 48

Chesapeake slaves had the lowest reproduction rate among all slaves.

Question 49

By 1834, the cotton belt produced more than half of the cotton in the United States.

Question 50

Slaves were able to negotiate and gain privileges.

Question 51

The most intensely commercialized farms in the world were found in the Chesapeake.

Question 52

Slave marriages

A)were not recognized by the law.
B)were discouraged by slave owners.
C)were legally binding.
D)were not recognized or respected within the slave community.
E)did not exist.

Question 53

Slaves in the cotton belt worked longer and harder than slaves in the Chesapeake.

Question 54

In the Chesapeake slave system a majority of women worked as domestic servants.

Question 55

Slaveholders were committed to paternalism that sought to make slaves Christian.

Question 56

Diseases on southern coastal plantations kept masters and overseers out of the fields.

Question 57

In 1860, the value of southern slaves exceeded the investments in banking, railroads, and manufacturing combined.

Question 58

Slave rebellions had little chance of success in the southern United States because plantations were relatively small and dispersed.

Question 59

The task system encouraged slaves to work hard without supervision.

Question 60

In southern yeoman farm communities, slaves did most of the fieldwork.

Question 61

Between 1790 and 1850, the southern planters became more dependent on Spain.

Question 62

In 1790 the future of the plantation was in doubt due to the fall in value of tobacco.

Question 63

The ownership of slaves transformed a housewife into a lady.

Question 64

By 1860, the U.S. South produced four-fifths of the world supply of cotton.

Question 65

The international slave trade ended in 1808.

Question 66

The Hammond Quarterly was the principal southern business journal.

Question 67

Among white southern families one's reputation was more important than wealth.

Question 68

Prior to 1820, blacks and whites in the Chesapeake attended church together.

Question 69

The plantation economy of the South resulted in an unequal distribution of wealth.

Question 70

At Thomas Jefferson's Monticello slave children were sold as soon as they could work.

Question 71

In slave kinship, nonrelatives were called "brother," "sister," "aunt," and "uncle."

Question 72

Between 1800 and 1860, the percentage of the southern workforce engaged in agriculture increased.

Question 73

Few yeoman farmers in the south were wholly subject to market fluctuations.

Question 74

In 1820, rice planters in the low country faced an optimistic future.

Question 75

Between 1780 and 1810, the slave population in Virginia saw a decrease in free blacks but an increase in enslaved blacks.

Question 76

Misbehaving antebellum southern wives damaged the reputation of their husbands.

Question 77

Under the task system in the eighteenth century, a slave was expected to tend four acres of rice daily.

Question 78

North American slaves seldom went into organized, armed revolt.

Question 79

The largest cities were in the North.

Question 80

By the Civil War three out of four white southern families did not own a single slave.