Deck 4: Slavery and Empire

Question 1

One direct African influence on white southern culture was __________.

A) a change in cooking style
B) white adoption of African names
C) whites and blacks going to church together
D) whites adopting African clothing

Answer 1

a change in cooking style

Question 2

The Stono Rebellion is evidence that slaves in eighteenth-century South Carolina __________.

A) had a sense of community independent from their white masters
B) had broken all ties with African culture
C) had been absorbed into a culture of inclusion
D) were incapable of resistance without white leadership

Answer 2

had a sense of community independent from their white masters

Question 3

A little less than half of all African slaves imported to the New World during four centuries of the slave trade were delivered to __________.

A) Brazil
B) the Caribbean
C) British North America
D) Mexico

Answer 3

the Caribbean

Question 4

With the many African ethnic groups present in eighteenth-century colonial America, what cultural trait may have first formed the foundation of a common African American culture?

A) conversion to Christianity
B) music and dance
C) learning English
D) intermarriage

Question 5

North of the Chesapeake, slaves most commonly labored in which of the following industries?

A) shipping
B) commercial farming
C) iron making
D) sugar production

Question 6

After an experiment with prohibiting slavery, by 1752 this new colony became part of the low-country slave system.

A) South Carolina
B) Florida
C) Virginia
D) Georgia

Question 7

Among the worst of the horrors confronting slaves during the Middle Passage was __________.

A) seasickness
B) poor food quality
C) beatings by sailors
D) inadequate sanitation

Question 8

Before the 1730s, the most profitable activity of the early Carolina economy was __________.

A) growing rice
B) the Indian slave trade
C) growing indigo and tobacco
D) producing timber and naval stores

Question 9

What group of Native Americans violently resisted French settlement in Louisiana?

A) Natchez
B) Pueblo
C) Seminole
D) Creek

Question 10

The hybrid musical culture that emerged from the combination of European and African musical forms was characterized by __________.

A) sounds of the rainforest
B) minimal improvisation
C) reed instruments
D) rhythmic complexity

Question 11

In the slave culture, the African influence in religion was especially evident in __________.

A) baptism ceremonies
B) birthing customs
C) singing psalms and hymns
D) death and burial rituals

Question 12

Locations such as Madeira, Barbados, Jamaica, and Haiti illustrate the commercial connection between slavery and __________.

A) tobacco
B) cotton
C) sugar
D) rice

Question 13

The first slave plantation colony established in America was __________.

A) Portuguese Brazil
B) Stono, South Carolina
C) the English Chesapeake
D) Spanish Florida

Question 14

During the course of what was known as "the scramble," __________.

A) enslaved Africans were forced to run to places on the slave ships
B) slavers branded the Africans onboard ship
C) auctioneers increased buyers' bids on slaves
D) buyers picked slaves for purchase out of a corral

Question 15

An examination of slavery in Florida and New Mexico indicates that __________.

A) local conditions determined its character
B) few Africans were brought to Spanish America
C) Indian slavery rarely existed
D) the harshest form of slavery existed in the more isolated regions of Spanish America

Question 16

Anthony Johnson's experience illuminates __________.

A) the ambiguous status of Africans in Virginia
B) the strict English laws defining slavery
C) the permanent slave status of Virginia Negroes
D) the refusal of Anglican clergy to baptize blacks

Question 17

In slave areas, traditional African cultural customs __________.

A) were rapidly discarded by slaves in America
B) saw a gradual convergence with those of whites
C) were adopted by nearby whites
D) expressed slaves' awareness of their oppression

Question 18

Most Africans were enslaved __________.

A) by white kidnappers who invaded African territory
B) by cooperation between European or American and African traders
C) for committing criminal offenses against the tribe
D) by North African Arab traders

Question 19

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano is an eighteenth-century autobiography written from the point of view of a __________.

A) Portuguese sailor involved in the slave trade
B) Brazilian sugar planter
C) Nigerian captured into slavery
D) black Virginian who bought his freedom and eventually owned slaves

Question 20

Eighteenth-century slave masters were reluctant to allow their slaves to become Christians because they __________.

A) believed slaves could not understand Christian teachings
B) wanted to keep Africans and whites as far from each other as possible
C) did not want to see Christianity influenced by African religions
D) feared Christianity would give the slaves dangerous ideas about freedom and equality

Question 21

Which century saw the importation of the greatest number of slaves into British North America?

A) sixteenth
B) seventeenth
C) eighteenth
D) nineteenth

Question 22

In the first half of the eighteenth century, colonists complained little about the mercantilist system because __________.

A) the colonists benefited from it
B) it did not apply to the colonists
C) few in the colonies depended on trade
D) the colonies were economically self-sufficient

Question 23

What English colony was founded, in part, to create a buffer zone against Spanish invasions from Florida?

A) Virginia
B) Louisiana
C) Georgia
D) South Carolina

Question 24

Before Columbus, trade in slaves in Europe was __________.

A) unknown
B) small and insignificant
C) widely considered un-Christian
D) already a lucrative business

Question 25

Which of these slave rebellions was considered to be the most violent of the colonial period, resulting in the deaths of twenty-three whites and forty-five to fifty slaves?

A) New York City, 1712
B) New York City, 1741
C) Chesapeake, 1730
D) Stono, 1739

Question 26

The influence of mercantilism on the British economy is illustrated by the fact that, between 1700 and 1760, __________.

A) England's share of world wealth fell steadily
B) the value of colonial trade grew substantially
C) slavery gradually declined in the colonies
D) Spain rapidly outstripped England as an economic power

Question 27

A typical wealthy South Carolina planter __________.

A) spent much of his time working his plantation
B) lived far away from the coast
C) belonged to a powerful social elite
D) mainly relied on free labor

Question 28

An examination of language patterns, music, and architectural forms in the South suggests that during the eighteenth century, __________.

A) significant amounts of cultural sharing occurred between Africans and white southerners
B) white southern culture borrowed little from African culture, but the latter was transformed by white culture
C) Africans absorbed little of the white culture in the South
D) little cultural exchange of any kind occurred between African slaves and white southerners

Question 29

The term "Middle Passage" refers to __________.

A) slave voyages from Africa to America
B) the slave trade between America and Europe
C) sugar sent to New England to be distilled into rum
D) the transport of slaves from the West Indies to the American South

Question 30

Which of these nations took the lead in the African slave trade after 1640?

A) England
B) the Netherlands
C) Spain
D) Portugal

Question 31

Which two crops were the basis of South Carolina's export wealth in the 1700s?

A) sugar and cattle
B) tobacco and sugar
C) rice and tobacco
D) indigo and rice

Question 32

In the Peace of Utrecht, which ended Queen Anne's War, the Spanish ceded to England the exclusive right to supply the Spanish colonies with __________.

A) manufactured goods
B) slaves
C) foodstuffs
D) timber and naval stores

Question 33

The Navigation Acts passed between 1651 and 1696 __________.

A) opened trade within the British empire to any nation
B) encouraged colonial manufacturing
C) consolidated the English colonies into one centralized trading unit
D) defined the role colonies would play within the British empire

Question 34

The War of Jenkins's Ear led directly to __________.

A) King George's War
B) the Stono Rebellion
C) the War of the Spanish Succession
D) Queen Anne's War

Question 35

Sexual relations between whites and blacks in colonial Virginia were __________.

A) common, producing many mulattoes
B) illegal and rare
C) encouraged by colonial officials
D) never made illegal during the colonial period

Question 36

Which of these instruments was of African origin?

A) guitar
B) violin
C) banjo
D) juba

Question 37

The most obvious effect of slavery on the economy of the British Empire was seen in the __________.

A) growth of English ports and shipping
B) high unemployment rates of nonslave agricultural workers in the Empire
C) decline of investment in industrial development
D) lack of industrial development

Question 38

Mercantilism led to competition between nations because the world economy was __________.

A) constantly expanding
B) a zero-sum game
C) constantly shrinking
D) based on credit rather than goods

Question 39

The essence of the European theory of mercantilism was the belief that __________.

A) slavery was the preferred trading base for economic activity
B) governments should not attempt to regulate their economies
C) the state should exert political control of the economy
D) colonies were detrimental to the economic well-being of a nation

Question 40

The best explanation for the greater reliance on slavery in the British colonies in the Lower and Upper South rather than in its northern American colonies is that __________.

A) southerners were lazier than northerners
B) slavery was more profitable in plantation economies
C) most northerners were morally opposed to slavery
D) slave traders refused to sell slaves in the North

Question 41

Which of these is one of the three principal ways in which slavery contributed to the economic development of Great Britain?

A) Slavery encouraged the migration of poor white English people to North America.
B) Slavery provided an enormous stimulus to the growth of European manufacturing.
C) Slavery strengthened the military position of the British in North America.
D) Slavery strengthened the social and cultural bonds between white colonists and the mother country.

Question 42

In what ways did Africans resist enslavement once in North America? Why were slave rebellions less likely to occur in British North America than in the West Indies or South America?

Question 43

DNA evidence confirms that there is a "high probability" that __________.

A) George Washington was the father of several mixed-race children
B) Thomas Jefferson did not have a sexual relationship with Sally Hemings
C) Thomas Jefferson was the father of several mixed-race children
D) George Washington had a slave grandfather

Question 44

How many enslaved Africans were laboring on plantations in Hispaniola and Brazil by 1600?

A) 25,000
B) 250,000
C) 100,000
D) 2,500

Question 45

Penalties for interracial sexual relationships __________.

A) were generally mild
B) were rarely applied to white mistresses who had sexual relations with their male slaves
C) were rarely applied to masters who had sexual relations with their slave women
D) were strictly enforced in all cases

Question 46

A typical wealthy Virginia planter in the eighteenth century owned __________.

A) 20 to 30 slaves
B) 400 to 500 slaves
C) more than 100 slaves
D) more than 1,000 slaves

Question 47

The mid-seventeenth-century Chesapeake is best described as __________.

A) an autonomous region
B) a frontier of inclusion
C) a society with slaves
D) a slave society

Question 48

What were the political and economic consequences of the Atlantic slave trade for Africa?

Question 49

Which of these was at the top of the social structure of slave colonies?

A) colonial officials
B) bankers
C) wealthy planters
D) merchants

Question 50

Why did colonists initially decide to use African slaves, rather than Indians, as laborers?

A) Warfare and disease had decimated native populations.
B) Indians successfully resisted enslavement in all regions of the Americas.
C) Europeans did not believe that Indians should be enslaved.
D) African slavery predated the coming of Europeans, though it had been less harsh.

Question 51

Why did Europeans stop enslaving other Europeans by the early fifteenth century?

A) They were disturbed by the moral implications of enslaving and selling Christian Europeans.
B) Most European nations had strict laws governing the rights of laborers.
C) European nations and city-states were completely at peace with each other during the early 1400s.
D) Owning African and Muslim slaves reflected a higher and more prestigious status than owning European slaves.

Question 52

If you were trying to persuade someone to follow mercantilist ideas, what would you argue? Use the English model of mercantilism to frame your argument.

Question 53

How was West African slavery different from slavery in the Americas?

A) West African slaves were often treated as subordinate family members. They could marry, and their children were born free.
B) In Africa, slaves performed only domestic labor for their masters.
C) domestic servants.
D) In Africa, slaves were not allowed to marry, while in the Americas, marriage was encouraged among African slaves.

Question 54

The majority of African slaves exported to the Americas came from __________.

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

Question 55

Enslaved Africans waiting for transport to the Americas were kept in dark dungeons or in open pens called __________.

A) barracoons
B) maroons
C) scrambles
D) penitentiaries

Question 56

How did "white skin privilege" unite wealthy and poor whites in accepting slavery in eighteenth-century North America? Were laws necessary to enforce relations between the races?

Question 57

Which of these was most responsible for greatly expanding the European market for sugar?

A) the Spanish
B) the English
C) the Dutch
D) the French

Question 58

Give a summary of slavery in the Spanish colonies. Was slavery there more or less harsh than in British North American colonies? Why?

Question 59

Which of the following statements best describe African slaves who were transported on the Middle Passage to the American colonies?

A) The greatest number of Africans were already Christians when they were captured.
B) African slaves brought their cultural possessions with them to the colonies.
C) The greatest number of African slaves were brought to the colonies during the sixteenth century.
D) African captives came from a diverse background of ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups.

Question 60

The majority of mixed-ancestry individuals living in slave colonies were __________.

A) slaves
B) free
C) the children of white women
D) skilled artisans or craftspeople

Question 61

How did Queen Anne's War end for the British?

A) The British won, and France ceded major lands in present-day Canada.
B) The British won but acquired little new territory.
C) The French won but acquired little new territory.
D) The French won and removed the British from Canada.

Question 62

Which of these was a key component of the "triangular trade"?

A) slaves
B) iron ore
C) ivory
D) silk

Question 63

Which of these diseases was known as the "flux"?

A) dysentery
B) smallpox
C) measles
D) yellow fever

Question 64

What was the purpose of spreading netting around the sides of the slave ships?

A) to prevent slave suicides
B) to catch fish for slave meals
C) to balance the vessel
D) to hamper pirates attempting to scale the sides

Question 65

How were planters able to increase production by growing both rice and indigo?

A) Rice grew in lowlands and indigo in highlands, at different seasons.
B) Rice and indigo could be grown side by side as companion crops.
C) Rice and indigo could follow each other in the same fields, eliminating the necessity of fallowing.
D) Whenever the market for one was low, the other would be high.

Question 66

How did the Virginia planter assembly define slave status in 1662?

A) If the mother is a slave, the child is a slave.
B) If the father is a slave, the child is a slave.
C) If a person of African descent has no identification papers, she or he is a slave.
D) Slavery is the result of conviction for a serious crime.

Question 67

Which of these events transformed African American religious life?

A) the Great Awakening
B) slave codes
C) the American Revolution
D) the Stono Rebellion

Question 68

What were maroons?

A) hidden communities of runaway slaves
B) Christian converts who wore royal colors
C) slaves who were lost at sea after a shipwreck
D) a disciplined fighting force of slave-hunters

Question 69

Which was the largest slave uprising of the colonial period?

A) the Chesapeake Rebellion of 1730
B) the Stono Rebellion of 1739
C) the New York Rebellion of 1712
D) the New York Rebellion of 1741

Question 70

Why did male slaves generally outnumber female slaves in the Americas by two to one?

A) Plantation masters saw young men as the best field workers.
B) Women were harder to capture in Africa.
C) Women had a much lower survival rate than men in the Americas.
D) Male slaves were cheaper than female slaves.

Question 71

In what situation might African slaves work side by side with their owners?

A) small farms in the Chesapeake region
B) large plantations in South Carolina
C) sugar plantations in Brazil
D) indigo fields in South Carolina

Question 72

During the four-century history of the Atlantic slave trade, how many Africans arrived in the Americas?

A) 10.5 million
B) 1.5 million
C) 3 million
D) 30 million

Question 73

Natural increase created what unique situation in Chesapeake slave demographics by the 1730s?

A) The Chesapeake slave population became the first in the Western Hemisphere to achieve self-sustained growth.
B) The combinations of cultural traditions in the Chesapeake were not seen elsewhere.
C) Only in the Chesapeake did different language traditions combine to create new languages that were only partly related to English.
D) The Chesapeake became the first region in the Americas with an African-descended majority.

Question 74

To cement their control of Florida in 1699, what action did Spanish authorities take in relation to slavery?

A) They declared Florida a refuge for escaped slaves if those slaves agreed to defend the colony.
B) They declared Florida a slave state, which encouraged wealthy plantation owners to immigrate.
C) They abolished slavery, but only for the children of current slaves.
D) They reinstituted Indian slavery to complement their African slave labor force.

Question 75

What form of resistance was most common among African American slaves?

A) malingering and mistreating tools and animals
B) violent rebellion whenever an opportunity presented itself
C) verbal "talking back" to the owners and overseers
D) running away

Question 76

Which religious group spoke out as early as 1758 against slavery?

A) Quakers
B) Baptists
C) Catholics
D) Anglicans

Question 77

For what explicit purpose did imperialists develop the economic policy known as "mercantilism"?

A) to ensure that colonies benefited the mother nations
B) to modernize colonial economies
C) to benefit the merchant class both in the colonies and in the mother nation
D) to encourage the development of large-scale agriculture

Question 78

Which country was the most important European participant in the West African slave trade in the sixteenth century?

A) Portugal
B) England
C) Spain
D) the Netherlands

Question 79

What were "enumerated commodities"?

A) items produced in the colonies on which Parliament restricted trade
B) items that could be counted, or enumerated, for tax purposes
C) trade items that were deemed illegal, such as rum
D) trade items that could be purchased only in state stores

Question 80

What was the greatest benefit of the slave trade for the northern colonies?

A) their commercial relationship with the South
B) their direct profit from the slave trade
C) the increase in the availability of domestic labor
D) preservation of colonial political autonomy