Deck 9: The Old South, 1790-1850

Question 1

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.

Answer 1

Nat Turner Revolt.

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

The inventor of the cotton gin was

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

Answer 3

Eli Whitney.

Question 4

In 1860, the southern slave population was collectively worth

A) $400 million.
B) $900 million.
C) $1.3 billion.
D) $2 billion.
E) $3 billion.

Question 5

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 6

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 7

A common calculation between planters and farmers was a planter owned

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

Question 8

In 1790, Chesapeake planters saw falling prices for

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

Question 9

In the plantation counties of coastal South Carolina

A) slave labor forces tended to be small.
B) overseers closely supervised slaves in field work.
C) slaves made up 80 percent of the population.
D) work was organized by the "gang system."
E) the healthy climate resulted in few diseases.

Question 10

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 11

For the most part, owners ____ slave marriages.

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

Question 12

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

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

Question 13

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 14

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.

Question 15

All of the following statements regarding southern yeoman families are true except they

A) rarely used cash.
B) relied mainly on family members for labor.
C) did not have women work in the fields.
D) had children begin work at an early age.
E) had white people do most of the work.

Question 16

In the Chesapeake slave system

A) nearly all work was in tobacco.
B) men and women worked together.
C) only men did fieldwork.
D) most women worked as domestic servants.
E) tasks were divided by gender.

Question 17

All of the following statements on yeoman southern farmers are true except they

A) remained tied to the cotton economy.
B) participated in the market economy.
C) had few family links to the planter class.
D) were more poor than the planter class.
E) grew little cotton.

Question 18

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 19

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 20

In slave Christianity the "liberator" was

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

Question 21

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 22

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 23

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 24

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 25

The primary crop of the lowcountry was

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

Question 26

All of the following states became net exporters of slaves except

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

Question 27

Between 1800 and 1860, the percentage of the population engaged in agriculture

A) rose in north and fell in the south.
B) fell in the north and rose in the south.
C) rose both in the north and the south.
D) fell in both the north and the south.
E) had seen almost no change in either the north or the south.

Question 28

Slave families and slave communities lost many of their members as slaves were sold to work in which region?

A) Southeast
B) Southwest
C) Caribbean
D) New England
E) South America

Question 29

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 30

Slave families were always

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

Question 31

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 32

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 33

There was a heavy emphasis on ____ in southern society.

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

Question 34

All of the following statements regarding cotton belt planters are true except they

A) relied on rivers for much of their transportation needs.
B) had little interest in state-supported internal improvements.
C) they were at odds with upcountry whites over the construction of roads.
D) neglected technological change.
E) did little to improve the cultivation of cotton.

Question 35

In 1789, a major slave revolt was carried out in

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

Question 36

All of the following statements regarding Thomas Jefferson are true except he

A) kept a slave as a mistress.
B) sold slaves as punishment.
C) believed free whites and blacks could live together
D) insisted that slavery was wrong.
E) gave away slaves as gifts.

Question 37

Which of the following was not part of the interstate slave trade?

A) Slave pens
B) Safe houses
C) Sophisticated financing
D) A wide disparity in prices
E) A well-traveled shipping route

Question 38

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 39

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 40

In 1830, less than what percent of southern slave owners owned 20 or more slaves?

A) 5
B) 30
C) 50
D) 75
E) 20

Question 41

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

Question 42

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

Question 43

As the Civil War approached, the number of southerners who owned at least one slave was

A) nearly seventy percent.
B) decreasing.
C) increasing by ten percent a year.
D) no more than forty percent.
E) undocumented.

Question 44

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

Question 45

Antebellum southern society placed its greatest importance on

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

Question 46

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 47

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

Question 48

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 49

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 50

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

Question 51

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

Question 52

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 53

In the cotton belt few planters retained the task system.

Question 54

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 55

The Lowcountry was not a center of plantation slavery.

Question 56

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

Question 57

Chesapeake slaves had the lowest reproduction rate among all slaves.

Question 58

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

Question 59

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 60

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

A) Alabama
B) Texas
C) Mississippi
D) Louisiana
E) Florida

Question 61

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

Question 62

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

Question 63

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

Question 64

North American slaves seldom went into organized, armed revolt.

Question 65

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

Question 66

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

Question 67

Slaves were able to negotiate and gain privileges.

Question 68

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

Question 69

The task system encouraged slaves to work hard without supervision.

Question 70

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

Question 71

When compared with slaves in Cuba, Jamaica, and Brazil, North American slaves seldom revolted.

Question 72

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

Question 73

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

Question 74

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

Question 75

The biblical notion that slavery could be punishment for sin was accepted in the enslaved community.

Question 76

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

Question 77

Misbehaving antebellum southern wives damaged the reputation of their husbands.

Question 78

A common calculation between planters and farmers was a planter owned twenty slaves.

Question 79

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

Question 80

Denmark Vesey was betrayed by slaves.