Deck 9: Agricultural Expansion: The Conflict of Two Systems on the Land

Question 1

Rising agricultural prices and opportunities to own land provided people with incentives to migrate?to the trans-Appalachian states.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Until 1860,the domestic and international demand for cotton provided motive to expand slavery.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The steel plow and horse-drawn reaper increased labor productivity on all farms,small and large.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

In 1860,earnings from cotton exports

A) were minimal.
B) accounted for a small percentage of Gross Domestic Product.
C) exceeded the total revenue of the U.S. government by four-fold.
D) were what attracted the majority of agriculturalists into cotton production.

Question 5

According to Fogel and Engerman (1974),Northern farmers extensively utilized hired labor.

Question 6

By 1860,over one-half of all Southern farms utilized slave labor.

Question 7

Operation on the basis of comparative advantage led to the regional specialization of the use of ?slaves in the North.

Question 8

In 1860 government revenues exceeded the earnings of cotton exports by fourfold.

Question 9

By 1860,

A) less than one-third of Southern farmers owned slaves.
B) most of the workers on Northern farmers were hired laborers.
C) immigrants supplied a significant amount of labor to Northern and Southern farmers.
D) all of the above.

Question 10

The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 did not allow popular sovereignty over the issue of slavery.

Question 11

The economics of slavery suggests that

A) slave labor produced efficiencies in Southern agriculture.
B) slave owners possessed economic incentives to beat and exploit their slaves.
C) Southern agriculture was less profitable than northern farming.
D) Southern agriculture was just and moral.

Question 12

Between 1810 and 1850,the U.S.population living in the trans-Appalachian states increased significantly.

Question 13

The statistical details on the U.S.balance of international payments between 1790 and 1860 help economic historians determine

A) what the U.S. sold domestically.
B) how other countries paid for their own domestic goods and services.
C) how the U.S. paid other countries for their exports.
D) changes in domestic trade patterns.

Question 14

During the antebellum period,the majority of the family labor on farms was devoted to investment type of activities-clearing land,constructing fences and buildings,and feeding and breeding livestock.

Question 15

When transportation costs fall,consumer prices have a tendency to rise.

Question 16

The evidence shows that the domestic and world markets for American cotton contributed to the spread of slavery into new lands.

Question 17

The slave gang system increased labor productivity by encouraging members of a slave gang system to specialize in performing assigned tasks and working in rhythm.

Question 18

The region that was using mechanized harvesting equipment before the Civil War was

A) the Northeast.
B) the South.
C) the West.
D) the Far West.

Question 19

The proportion of Southern farms relying on slaves rose between 1840 and 1860.Plus,the scale economies of slavery aggravated the chronic shortage of good Southern farmland.

Question 20

During the antebellum period,two systems of land use emerged-the self-sufficient system of?the North,which did not rely on specialization,and the specialized system of the South,which concentrated the use of slaves.

Question 21

According to the research of economic historians,Southern farms

A) realized the gains from regional specialization in the production of cotton, tobacco, sugar ?and rice.
B) used the gang system to increase the production of slaves.
C) were far larger, on average, than farms in the North.
D) were all of the above.

Question 22

The Civil War was a result of

A) the dispute over slave ownership in the South.
B) attempts to keep slaves out of the West.
C) attempts to protect state rights over federal control.
D) all of the above.

Question 23

When he invented the cotton gin in 1793,Eli Whitney exhibited

A) entrepreneurial behavior.
B) greedy behavior.
C) selfish behavior.
D) immoral behavior.

Question 24

Which statement holds true for the period of slavery in U.S.history?

A) Slavery was a moral institution.
B) The system wasted natural resources.
C) It provided slaveholders with incentives to avoid purchasing farm implements.
D) It developed land and profitably produced agricultural goods for sale in world markets.

Question 25

Which of the following arguments is consistent with the claims of Robert Fogel (1989)?

A) The success of slave labor was tied closely to the number of labor hours per year.
B) Compared to the slaves, the self-sufficient farmers in the North and those in the South were more likely to not work on Sundays, face a shorter work day and experience regular rest times.
C) The productivity of slave labor increased with the use of specialization and rhythm.
D) All of the above.

Question 26

By the mid-nineteenth century,

A) indentured servitude disappeared in the U.S.
B) slavery was disappearing.
C) more and more immigrants were drawn into the production of agricultural goods on large plantations.
D) all of the above were true.

Question 27

Technological advancements in the antebellum period were

A) constant and stable.
B) almost non-existent.
C) concentrated in manufacturing.
D) slow in coming but labor-saving-especially in ?agriculture-when they emerged.

Question 28

In the antebellum economy of the South,what was not produced for subsistence consumption?

A) Corn
B) Cotton
C) Cattle
D) All of the above

Question 29

Explain why the slave gang system helped increase productivity on plantations.

Question 30

Slaves were

A) unprofitable substitutes for wage labor on plantations.
B) profitable complements to capital equipment.
C) denied the use of shovels, hoes and axes.
D) all of the above.

Question 31

On the eve of the Civil War,what was the number one export in the U.S.?

A) Cotton
B) Wheat
C) Gold
D) Shipping services

Question 32

Investment in the agricultural economy of the antebellum period of U.S.history usually entailed everything below except

A) Clearing lands
B) Purchasing stocks and bonds
C) Constructing fences and buildings
D) Purchasing farm implements

Question 33

The research of Gavin Wright (1978)on the antebellum period suggests that

A) there was no limit on the profitability of the plantation utilizing slave labor.
B) issues with management, communication and discipline limited the profitability of the slave plantation.
C) more than 75 percent of the Southern farms were plantations and utilized slave labor.
D) all of the above.

Question 34

The Erie Canal provided the first reliable and relatively quick east-west link in markets.This link,consequently,

A) increased profit margins and expanded markets for agriculturalists.
B) increased consumer prices in all markets.
C) increased transportation costs.
D) hindered trade and the accumulation of wealth.

Question 35

Exports from and imports to the U.S.were important to growth in the U.S.between 1790 and 1860 because

A) exports to other countries expanded the market base for U.S. manufacturing goods.
B) they supported the U.S. economy during a time in which it used more agricultural goods ?and crude materials than it produced.
C) they helped the U.S. and its trading partners gain wealth through international trade of those goods and services in which each produced at a comparative advantage.
D) they contributed to all of the above.

Question 36

Compare economic historians' views on why the Southern economy prospered between 1815 and 1860,and why manufacturing failed to develop there.

Question 37

Which of the following factors caused the Civil War?

A) Slavery
B) The conflict between the two systems of agriculture
C) A shift in political power resulting from new states entering the ?Union as free or slave states
D) All of the above

Question 38

Suppose the Constitutional Convention of 1787 had abolished slavery.How would this have affected the economy of the American South? Would the Civil War have been necessary?

Question 39

Profitability in cotton farming depended on which of the following factors?

A) Physical crop yields
B) World and domestic cotton prices
C) Subsistence farming during periods of low cotton prices
D) All of the above

Question 40

What does the study of the balance of international trade and finance between 1790 and 1860 help American economic historians do?

A) Understand what the U.S. sold to the rest of the world
B) Understand what the rest of the world sold to the U.S.
C) Determine if there is a link between these international patterns and ?economic growth in the U.S.
D) All of the above

Question 41

Identify the two systems of land that emerged during the antebellum period.Explain why they were in conflict.

Question 42

Why were cotton farmers self-sufficient in producing food and cotton? Why was corn cultivation?the perfect complement to cotton production?

Question 43

Describe the Missouri Compromise of 1820,the Compromise of 1850,and the Kansas-Nebraska ?Act of 1854.Explain how each attempted to solve a conflict between the two agricultural systems dominating the antebellum period.

Question 44

Describe those parts of the U.S.agricultural system dependent on slave labor.Explain why ?U.S.agricultural labor was partly and not wholly dependent on slavery.Use economic ?reasoning.

Question 45

Describe the changes in farming technology during the antebellum period of U.S.history.Discuss?the role of technological advancements in agricultural growth and development.

Question 46

By the 1850s,slave ownership became heavily concentrated.Explain and describe the political ramifications of this concentration,citing the work of economic historians.

Question 47

Describe the western expansion of Northern agriculture.Compare this expansion to Southern expansion.Identify the conflicts that emerged and link them to the Civil War.Why did national solutions to these conflicts fail to prevent the Civil War?

Question 48

Identify the role the cotton gin played in perpetuating slavery.