Deck 23: Africa and the Atlantic Slave Trade, 1400-1800

Question 1

Which of the following was NOT a central commodity in the trans-Sahara trade?

A) slaves
B) silver
C) salt
D) gold

Answer 1

silver

Question 2

What percentage of all slaves shipped across the Atlantic from Africa went to what is now the United States?

A) almost 50 percent
B) about 10 percent
C) almost 70 percent
D) less than 5 percent

Answer 2

less than 5 percent

Question 3

Which of these was the most important reason for the growth of the slave trade in the 1600s?

A) population loss due to the Black Death
B) expansion of sugar plantations
C) the Wars of Religion
D) expansion of tobacco plantations in North America

Answer 3

expansion of sugar plantations

Question 4

Why did Portugal turn to slavery in its colonies earlier than other European states?

A) small population and labor shortage
B) an entrenched racial ideology
C) competition with Spain
D) a richer and larger state that could better afford slaves

Question 5

North Africa's most populous and prosperous 15th century realm was

A) Mali.
B) Egypt.
C) Ethiopia.
D) Sudan.

Question 6

Which of these was a large Central African kingdom based on agriculture?

A) Mali
B) Kongo
C) Zimbabwe
D) Kilwa

Question 7

"Manikongo" means

A) lord of Kongo.
B) conqueror of Kongo.
C) governor of Kongo.
D) man of Kongo.

Question 8

How did Muslim slavery differ from Portuguese slavery?

A) Muslim slaverywas harsh; Portuguese slavery was mild.
B) Portuguese slavery had no racial basis; Muslim slavery did.
C) Muslim slavery was centered on domestic service; Portuguese slavery was centered on sugar cultivation.
D) Slavery was rare in Muslim society; it was already common among the Portuguese.

Question 9

Which 15th century African regions were comprised mostly of non-Islamic societies?

A) North and West
B) North and East
C) Central and South
D) Central and East

Question 10

West Africa's most prosperous 15th century kingdom was

A) Mali.
B) Egypt.
C) Ethiopia.
D) Sudan.

Question 11

Which of these describes 15th century Central and South Africa?

A) deeply Islamic
B) city-states based on a commercial economy
C) commercial ties to North Africa
D) farming and herding with many stateless societies

Question 12

The Portuguese first used slaves for working

A) on sugar plantations.
B) as domestic servants.
C) in cotton fields.
D) in coal mines.

Question 13

By the 1600s, Portugal established a colony that was the major source of African slaves in

A) Egypt.
B) Mali.
C) Sudan.
D) Angola.

Question 14

Manikongo Nzinga Mbemba became known as

A) Sonni Ali.
B) King Afonso I.
C) Prester John.
D) Mansa Musa.

Question 15

Traditionally, slavery in Africa NOT

A) oppressive.
B) for life.
C) based on race.
D) a result of war.

Question 16

In Islamic lands, the most common use of slaves was in

A) farming.
B) herding.
C) mining.
D) domestic service.

Question 17

What did the Portuguese typically sell to Africans in exchange for gold and salt?

A) finished goods such as cloth and metal wares
B) raw materials such as timber
C) foodstuffs, such as wheat and barley
D) luxury items, such as jewelry

Question 18

What was the impact of the spread of Islam on Africa and the slave trade?

A) It ended the slave trade.
B) The slave trade ended only in Muslim countries.
C) The slave trade expanded as part of the trans-Saharan trade routes.
D) The slave trade was fostered as part of Muslim ideology.

Question 19

What was Manikongo Nzinga Mbemba's complaint to the king of Portugal?

A) He was getting none of the profit from the slave trade.
B) His country was being depopulated by slave traders.
C) Portuguese settlers were seizing farm lands.
D) Portuguese traders were entering the country illegally.

Question 20

What was Ibn Khaldun's assessment of African slavery?

A) Slavery was an evil institution that should be resisted by any means necessary.
B) Black people accepted slavery because they had a low degree of humanity.
C) Since black people comprised the majority in Africa, they should rebel and then enslave white people.
D) Slavery was ordained by God as a way to keep social order.

Question 21

Afonso I came to regret his Portuguese connection after he saw the disastrous results of

A) smallpox.
B) slave trading.
C) the break with Islamic traders.
D) the Crusades.

Question 22

Which man conquered the declining Mali kingdom and established the Songhai Empire?

A) Sonni Ali
B) Muhammad I Askia
C) Mansa Musa
D) Muhammad Ali

Question 23

Which statement best describes the typical European ideology regarding the practice of slavery?

A) Slavery was immoral, but necessary for Africans' salvation.
B) Africans were less than human, making their enslavement justifiable.
C) Buying slaves was a good way to introduce Christianity and seek converts.
D) Blacks were selling their own people, so all the moral fault fell on Africans.

Question 24

Which man is responsible for the expansion of the Songhai Empire?

A) Sonni Ali
B) Muhammad I Askia
C) Mansa Musa
D) Muhammad Ali

Question 25

What is the basis for classification according to race?

A) achievement
B) observed behavior
C) external appearance
D) religion

Question 26

What led Diogo Cão to the Congo River?

A) He was searching for Prester John.
B) He was searching for direct access to gold mines.
C) He was searching for a waterway across Africa.
D) He was searching for diamonds.

Question 27

In Benin, the word "oba" means

A) slave.
B) European.
C) African.
D) king.

Question 28

What was a "maroon"?

A) runaway slave
B) slave trader
C) freed slave
D) African tribal chief

Question 29

The voyage that transported the slaves from Africa to the Americas was known as the

A) Atlantic Passage.
B) Middle Passage.
C) Ocean Terror.
D) Atlantic Voyage.

Question 30

What was the basis of Mali's power?

A) control of gold mining in West Africa
B) trans-Saharan trade and connections
C) the slave trade
D) subjugation of the Kongo kingdom

Question 31

The Songhai Empire was established after the conquest of

A) Kongo.
B) Ethiopia.
C) Morocco.
D) Mali.

Question 32

The most lasting testimony to the wealth and sophistication of Benin its surviving

A) impressive and richly adorned mosques.
B) gold and silver jewelry.
C) elaborate illustrated manuscripts.
D) iron, bronze, brass and ivory sculptures and plaques.

Question 33

Which of these explains the shape and extent of Songhai?

A) its position along the Congo River
B) its control of trade along the coast of West Africa
C) its position along the region between the Sahara and sub-Saharan Africa
D) its spread from Benin southward

Question 34

Which state defeated Songhai in the late sixteenth century?

A) Kongo
B) Ethiopia
C) Morocco
D) Angola

Question 35

Santeria and Vodou are examples of

A) traditional African religions.
B) the survival and development of African customs in the New World.
C) a blend of Islamic and Christian customs.
D) a blend of African and Amerind cultures.

Question 36

What was the "African Diaspora"?

A) the Atlantic slave trade
B) transplanted Africans and their descendents
C) the selling of Africans to other Africans
D) the selling of Africans to the Muslims

Question 37

Manikongo Nzinga Mbemba converted to

A) Islam.
B) Christianity.
C) Buddhism.
D) Hinduism.

Question 38

Until the 19th century, the main source of slaves was

A) North Africa.
B) South Africa.
C) West Africa.
D) East Africa.

Question 39

What is the relationship of Kanem-Bornu to Songhai?

A) Kanem-Bornu conquered Songhai.
B) Kanem-Bornu replaced Songhai in the trans-Saharan trade.
C) Songhai overran Kanem-Bornu, taking most of its territory.
D) Kanem-Bornu and Songhai rose and fell at about the same time.

Question 40

Idris Alawma

A) united the kingdoms of Kanem and Bornu.
B) ended the trans-Saharan trade.
C) was a devout Christian.
D) established a dynasty that lasted hundreds of years.

Question 41

Polygyny persisted in western and central Africa because

A) these areas were primarily Muslim.
B) these areas were primarily Christian.
C) slavery had depleted the male population.
D) slavery had depleted the female population.

Question 42

The Islamic domination of North Africa gave an added boost to the trans-Sahara slave trade.

Question 43

Early African slavery was typically passed on to a slave's children.

Question 44

"Mwene Mutapa" means

A) master conqueror.
B) slave owner.
C) greatest king.
D) runaway slave.

Question 45

Africa's food supply was substantially increased by the introduction of

A) cassava.
B) potatoes.
C) peanuts.
D) tobacco.

Question 46

Which of these gained the most from the shift from the Indian to the Atlantic Ocean trade?

A) Africa
B) Europe
C) China
D) India

Question 47

Who were the Boers?

A) English settlers in South Africa
B) Native Africans in South Africa
C) Dutch settlers in South Africa
D) Freed slaves in South Africa

Question 48

In an attempt to free themselves from Portuguese domination, manikongos allied themselves with the

A) Spanish.
B) Dutch.
C) British.
D) Muslims.

Question 49

The kingdom of Ethiopia was inhabited by

A) Muslims.
B) Catholics.
C) Coptic Christians.
D) Hindus.

Question 50

Which of these regions had been the main commercial region of the world prior to 1600?

A) the Pacific Ocean
B) the Indian Ocean
C) the Mediterranean Sea
D) the Atlantic Ocean

Question 51

What happened when Jesuits arrived in Ethiopia as missionaries?

A) although their emperor did, Coptic Christians refused to convert to Catholicism
B) they were beheaded by Islamic forces
C) they were welcomed and eventually converted the population to Catholicism
D) after a Coptic-Catholic council, the Jesuits converted to Coptic Christianity

Question 52

What was the status of the Kongo Kingdom around 1700?

A) It was ruled by the Portuguese.
B) It had disintegrated into smaller states.
C) It had grown under the impetus of the slave trade.
D) It had consolidated and was the largest regional state.

Question 53

By the 1400s, the wealthiest and grandest of the Swahili states was

A) Mombassa.
B) Zimbabwe.
C) Ethiopia.
D) Kilwa.

Question 54

Why were the Swahili regions resistant to European Christianity?

A) Christianity had acquired a poor reputation.
B) Theyhad been Muslims for centuries.
C) Monotheism was too foreign a concept.
D) The region was already Coptic.

Question 55

The Portuguese set up an East African naval base in the early sixteenth century at

A) Angola.
B) Mozambique.
C) Zambezi.
D) Kilwa.

Question 56

What was the basis of the Swahili city-states' economy?

A) agriculture
B) Indian Ocean trade
C) herding
D) trade with Egypt

Question 57

About how many people did Africa lose as a result of the slave trade?

A) 5million
B) 20 million
C) 10 million
D) 15 million

Question 58

How did the relations between Portugal and Kongo resemble Portuguese relations with the Mutapa kingdom?

A) Both kingdoms wanted Portuguese help in the slave trade.
B) Both kingdoms initially welcomed relations with the Portuguese.
C) In both, gold mining was the chief attraction.
D) Both kingdoms wished to convert to Christianity.

Question 59

Njinga of Ndongo did all of the following EXCEPT

A) engage in the slave trade.
B) forge an alliance with the Portuguese.
C) dress as a man.
D) command her armies in combat.

Question 60

Angola remained under Portuguese rule until

A) 1675.
B) 1775.
C) 1875.
D) 1975.

Question 61

Angola was established as a slave-trading colony.

Question 62

Evaluate the practice of polygyny in Africa.

Question 63

What was the ngola?

Question 64

In the Middle East, a slave could hope to become free by converting to Islam.

Question 65

Explain the Atlantic System.

Question 66

Europeans carried out the first part of the slave trading process which involved shackling and chaining slaves and marching them to the coast.

Question 67

What was the source of Mali's great wealth?

Question 68

Why did the Portuguese want to find Prester John?

Question 69

Which European nation began the Atlantic slave trade?

Question 70

Most of the slaves transported to the Americas went to Brazil and the Caribbean.

Question 71

Why were Africans slaves transported to Brazil?

Question 72

Coptic Christianity was considered "Monophysite." What does that mean?

Question 73

The Afrikaners were native black Africans displaced by slavery.

Question 74

Before European contact, Ethiopia was a Muslim state.

Question 75

What was the major occupation for slaves in the Middle East?

Question 76

The European visitors who first arrived in West Africa did not come to purchase slaves.

Question 77

What was a "maroon"?

Question 78

Which African nation was a Christian state from the 300s?

Question 79

What were Dutch settlers in South Africa called?

Question 80

Cassavaor manioc was native to Africa.