Deck 6: Life in the Cotton Kingdom

Question 1

Examine the 1831 lithograph that portrays a demonstration of Cyrus McCormick's automatic reaper.What is the relationship between the automatic reaper and the slaves depicted in the lithograph?

A) Blacks appear eager and excited to use the machine.
B) Blacks appear to be fleeing the agricultural field.
C) Blacks appear to be ignoring the machine.
D) Blacks appear to be attempting to destroy the machine.

Answer 1

Blacks appear eager and excited to use the machine.

Question 2

Why was it difficult to use advanced technology on cotton crops?

A) Masters in the South could not afford it.
B) Cotton ripened at varying times, and machines could not predict the timing.
C) Masters wanted to keep their slaves busy, so they avoided the use of any time-saving equipment.
D) African-American slaves refused to use machines to process cotton.

Answer 2

Cotton ripened at varying times, and machines could not predict the timing.

Question 3

Which state had the largest slave population during the period 1820-1860?

A) Alabama
B) Mississippi
C) Louisiana
D) Virginia

Answer 3

Virginia

Question 4

Which crop pushed owners to work their slaves under very difficult time and weather conditions?

A) sugarcane
B) cotton
C) rice
D) silk

Question 5

Which crop replaced tobacco as the main cash crop of Virginia and Maryland?

A) cotton
B) sugar cane
C) potatoes
D) wheat

Question 6

Which slave-dependent crop was by far the most important to the country as a whole?

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

Question 7

Examine Map 6.4.Why did the Upper South contain many free blacks?

A) Slaves in the Upper South were freed often by their masters.
B) Free blacks in the Upper South were recruited by whites to process the massive cotton harvest.
C) Free blacks concentrated in the Upper South to be closer to southern whites.
D) Free blacks wanted to assist in the capture of escaped slaves in the Upper South.

Question 8

Based on map 16.1,which states experienced the highest growth rate in cotton production between 1820 and 1860?

A) Alabama and Mississippi
B) Virginia and Missouri
C) Florida and Tennessee
D) Texas and Tennessee

Question 9

Why did African Americans own slaves?

A) Blacks owned slaves to assist with colonization in Africa.
B) Blacks owned slaves to force Native Americans onto reservations.
C) Blacks owned slaves to impress northern whites.
D) Blacks owned slaves to protect families from sale.

Question 10

What does the pie chart in Map 6-3 reveal about the distribution of slave labor in the South in 1850?

A) All slave labor was centered in the cotton sector.
B) All slave labor was centered in the tobacco sector.
C) Domestic work accounted for 10 percent of slave labor.
D) Rice, sugar, and hemp labor accounted for 50 percent of slave labor.

Question 11

Where was rice cultivation important?

A) in the swampy regions of Georgia and Florida
B) along the banks of the Mississippi River
C) in the low country of South Carolina and Georgia
D) in Virginia and Maryland

Question 12

In the nineteenth century,what percentage of slaves worked primarily as field hands?

A) 5 percent
B) 15 percent
C) 50 percent
D) 75 percent

Question 13

Why did cotton farmers use so many slaves?

A) Cotton farming involved very intensive, laborious care and cultivation.
B) Cotton planting and culture was spread over an extensive area.
C) Cotton farmers were in Alabama and Mississippi, where racism was strongest.
D) Cotton farmers tended to be the wealthiest and hated to do manual labor.

Question 14

Examine Map 6-4.How does the history of cotton cultivation help explain southern black residency patterns in 1850?

A) As cotton cultivation expanded to the Deep South, most of the laborers became African American.
B) As cotton cultivation expanded to the Upper South, most of the laborers became free blacks.
C) As cotton cultivation receded in the Deep South, slave numbers decreased in comparison to those of the white population.
D) The domestic slave trade transferred slaves from the U.S.to Canada.

Question 15

Which slave group had the highest status on the plantation?

A) house servants
B) skilled slaves
C) the fastest worker in the field
D) the women who bore children

Question 16

Which of the following is true about slave ownership in the Old South?

A) About half of the white population in the South owned slaves.
B) Most slaveholders owned more than 20 slaves.
C) Slaveholding was practiced by more people in 1860 than in 1830.
D) A small percentage of African Americans owned slaves.

Question 17

Which crop employed the largest number of slaves on a single plantation?

A) cotton
B) rice
C) indigo
D) silk

Question 18

Which new states led the production of cotton,in what was called the "Black Belt"?

A) Virginia and North Carolina
B) Georgia and Tennessee
C) Tennessee and Kentucky
D) Alabama and Mississippi

Question 19

What was hemp used for?

A) medicine and painkillers
B) starting fires for iron production
C) feeding cows
D) rope and bagging for cotton bales

Question 20

Where was tobacco cultivation most important?

A) Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina
B) Virginia and small areas of Pennsylvania
C) Kentucky and Alabama
D) New York and New Jersey

Question 21

As cotton expanded as a cash crop,the slave trade __________.

A) became more humane, as owners wanted to keep slaves alive for work
B) brought in more slaves from Africa to help meet the increased demand
C) expanded south and west, with owners selling slaves to new cotton areas
D) was reintroduced in the North to perform labor in the textile cotton factories

Question 22

What percentage of slaves from the Upper South moved involuntarily toward the southwest as the cotton trade opened up?

A) Less than five percent
B) 50 percent
C) 75 percent
D) No statistics are available for the years between 1820 and 1860.

Question 23

Examine the photograph of a woman holding a child that appears in Chapter 6.What aspect of enslaved black women's lives is revealed by the photograph?

A) their distant relationships with their white masters' families
B) their defiance of white authority
C) their close association with white children
D) their strong connections to their own black families

Question 24

Slaves' diets in the period between 1820 and 1860 were __________.

A) equal to the diets of whites because they ate plenty of fresh vegetables
B) poor by today's standards
C) European in style because the master refused to let them cook
D) similar to today's standards in nutrition but not in quantity of food

Question 25

Examine the engraving of blacks from about 1858 on the first page of the chapter.How do historians know that this is a photograph of a southern plantation?

A) It shows enslaved women tending children for whites in an urban area.
B) It shows skilled slaves working on the docks of a city waterfront.
C) It shows slave families picking cotton while whites supervise them.
D) It shows sorrowful slaves being separated while angry whites glare at them.

Question 26

Which of the following statements is true about punishment for slaves?

A) Punishment has often been overestimated-most slaves were never physically punished in any way.
B) Southern whites thought that blacks would not work unless they had the threat of physical punishment.
C) Generally, women and children were exempt from the more vicious forms of physical punishment.
D) Elderly slaves were often punished more harshly than younger adults.

Question 27

How was life different for slaves in the city than on the plantation?

A) Skilled urban slaves could purchase their freedom more easily.
B) There were generally very few slaves in the cities.
C) There was less opportunity for a city slave to make money on his or her free time.
D) There were more freed blacks in rural areas near plantations.

Question 28

Slave clothing was generally __________.

A) very beautiful, as slave women wove their own African-style cloth for their families to use
B) plentiful, but often not very warm in colder regions of the South
C) sparse, as they generally received clothing from the master only twice a year
D) the same for all ages and genders of slaves

Question 29

Examine the woodcut of a slave sale that was published in The Child's Anti-Slavery Book in 1860.How do historians know that this is an image of the domestic slave trade?

A) It shows happy and contented slaves on a plantation while whites watch the scene.
B) It shows urban slaves working in a variety of industries in a southern city.
C) It shows skilled slaves working on agricultural machinery on a cotton plantation.
D) It shows sorrowful slaves being separated while angry whites glare at them.

Question 30

Why did slaves prefer industrial labor to plantation work?

A) They were paid steady high wages.
B) There was less socialization with other slaves and free blacks.
C) They had more autonomy on the job.
D) They could enjoy the repetition of the work and not worry about advancement.

Question 31

What reason did whites use to justify the sexual exploitation of black women?

A) It helped white women remain sexually promiscuous.
B) Black women were inherently disinterested in sexual expression.
C) Black women were responsible, because they seduced the white men.
D) Black women were better at producing strong babies when mixed with white men.

Question 32

What city served as a major slave market for slaves moving through the Southwest?

A) New York
B) St.Louis
C) New Orleans
D) Atlanta

Question 33

Examine the drawing of a slave coffle passing the Capitol that appears in Chapter 6.What aspect of the domestic slave trade does it depict?

A) It shows women being beaten by slave masters on plantations as whites watch.
B) It shows cotton growing in long rows as blacks of all ages pick the product.
C) It shows blacks chained together carrying goods as whites watch and drive them.
D) It shows a slave rebellion that includes men, women, and children attacking whites.

Question 34

What was a primary advantage of being a skilled slave?

A) Skilled slaves had authority and power over other slaves and could limit their punishment.
B) Skilled slaves were often viewed by other slaves as religious leaders.
C) It was possible for skilled slaves to experience a taste of independence through the use of their skills.
D) It was easy for skilled slaves to buy their own freedom with the wages they earned.

Question 35

Examine Map 6-4.How does the history of the domestic slave trade help explain southern black residency patterns in 1850?

A) The domestic slave trade transferred slaves from the Deep South to the Upper South.
B) The domestic slave trade transferred slaves from the Upper South to the Deep South.
C) The domestic slave trade transferred slaves from western states to eastern states.
D) The domestic slave trade transferred slaves from the U.S.to Canada.

Question 36

Examine the 1863 photograph of a former Louisiana slave that appears in Chapter 6.How are the scars on the man's back connected to slavery?

A) The scars were self-inflicted in a form of protest.
B) The scars reveal a history of whipping by slave masters.
C) The scars reveal abuse by black women and children of men.
D) The scars resulted from poor weather conditions in the South.

Question 37

Which of the following statements best characterizes slave childhood?

A) Slave children were highly valued by the master and always well taken care of.
B) Slave children rarely played with white children because the master would not allow it.
C) Slave childhood was minimal and kids were doing adult work beginning between the ages of 8 and 12.
D) Slave children generally could only rely on their own mother and father for help growing up.

Question 38

African Americans were generally immune to what health problem that did affect Europeans?

A) food poisoning
B) lactose intolerance
C) dysentery
D) malaria

Question 39

Which of the following statements is true of slave marriages on plantations?

A) Most masters refused to allow slaves to marry.
B) Masters allowed pairings among male and female slaves.
C) Couples never lived on the same plantation and never saw one another.
D) Slaves ignored the marriage institution entirely.

Question 40

What was unique about black slave population of the U.S.compared to other slave populations in the New World?

A) Slaves in the U.S.created slave rebellions and conquered several states.
B) Slaves in the U.S.were able to rise into elected office before the end of slavery.
C) Slaves in the U.S.were the only slave population to grow by natural reproduction.
D) Slaves in the U.S.were the only slave population to utilize the church for protection.

Question 41

Commercial production of __________ did not begin in Louisiana until the 1790s.

Question 42

The mortality rate among Latin American slaves was far lower than for slaves in the U.S.

Question 43

What cultural traditions did slaves incorporate into their Christian religious practices?

A) African traditions
B) Chinese traditions
C) Russian traditions
D) Australian traditions

Question 44

Map 6-2 analyzes different decades to indicate that cotton production increased over time in different regions in the history of the American South.

Question 45

The concept of deliverance as portrayed in the Bible through the figure of Moses was a major point of importance for slave interpretations of Christianity.

Question 46

In Baltimore, during the early-nineteenth century, the concept of "term slavery" was gradually replacing slavery for life to meet the needs of slave workers.

Question 47

Historians note that slaves in Latin American countries enjoyed more protection from abusive masters through the church than did slaves in the United States.

Question 48

During the 1910s southern historian Ulrich B.Phillips portrayed slavery as a benign, paternalistic institution.

Question 49

The expansion of the cotton culture led to the __________ of the Native Americans who inhabited this vast region.

Question 50

The concept of the concentration camp serves as a symbol for the institution of slavery,according to the argument of Stanley Elkins.

Question 51

What is the connection between slaves and Christianity in the painting of a plantation burial?

A) Christianity has no role within slave culture and the lives of African Americans.
B) Christianity is a vital and meaningful part of slave culture on plantations.
C) Christianity is a tool used by whites to manipulate slave religion.
D) Christianity is perverted by slaves into a practice that violates Christianity.

Question 52

A difficult crop to produce,__________ required a long growing season and careful cultivation.

Question 53

What was the importance of the folktales whose heroes are animal tricksters?

A) They taught that sometimes the weaker but cleverer character wins.
B) They demonstrated that slaves were adopting white culture over time.
C) They helped children learn lessons of obedience and subservience to whites.
D) Telling them enabled slaves to earn some money on "festival days."

Question 54

Which historian argued in the 1910s that slavery was a generally benign institution where slaveholders cared for happy slaves?

A) Kenneth Stampp
B) Stanley Elkins
C) Ulrich B.Phillips
D) Eugene Genovese

Question 55

Examine the 1810 painting Virginia Luxuries that appears in the textbook.What practices does the painting aim to expose and ridicule?

A) Slave resistance is common on plantations and effective in eradicating slavery.
B) Whites can routinely exploit blacks sexually and inflict violence upon them.
C) Slavery in the U.S.provides a more enlightened lifestyle for blacks than in Africa.
D) The federal government should continue the practice of slavery in the U.S.

Question 56

How did white masters apply the teachings of Christianity to their slaves?

A) White masters to their slaves that blacks were to obey their masters just as they were to obey God.
B) White masters refused to allow their slaves any access to Christianity.
C) White masters emphasized Jesus's love for all mankind.
D) They generally allowed slaves to practice Christianity in any way they pleased.

Question 57

Map 6-2 clearly indicates that slave populations decreased over time in different regions in the American South,and this decrease had no correlation to the expansion of cotton production over time.

Question 58

How is the painting of a plantation burial symbolic of a particular viewpoint or characterization of slavery?

A) Blacks appear contented with slavery as an institution that benefitted them with Christianity and social support.
B) Blacks appear angry and defiant about their enslavement and resist the system.
C) Blacks appear to outsmart local whites as they manipulate the system to their advantage.
D) Blacks appear to be destroyed by the slavery system that surrounds them.

Question 59

Many slave masters never met their African-American slaves face to face.

Question 60

More interracial marriage between slaves and masters occurred in the U.S.compared to Latin American societies.

Question 61

How are the differences between slavery in cities and slavery on plantations related to the development of the southern economy between 1820 and 1860?

Question 62

Why would masters encourage families among their slaves?

Question 63

What were some of the advantages and disadvantages of being a house servant?

Question 64

__________ and circumstantial evidence indicate that Thomas Jefferson and his slave Sally Hemings had a long sexual relationship that produced four children who survived to adulthood.

Question 65

Why did the slave trade change with the growth of cotton as a cash crop?

Question 66

Most victims of the slave trade moved by foot,usually chained or roped together,in groups called __________.

Question 67

Demand for cotton fiber in the textile mills of__________ and New England stimulated the westward spread of cotton cultivation.

Question 68

Examine Map 6-2.How do slave population numbers correspond to the use of cotton as an agricultural crop?

Question 69

Agricultural technology in the ¬__________ __________ was primitive compared to that in the Old Northwest.

Question 70

How were the relationships between black husbands and wives symbolic of the challenges experienced by the black family under slavery?

Question 71

The core of the African American community was the concept of __________.

Question 72

How did black children experience enslavement? How were their lives and work different on a small plantation versus a large one?

Question 73

Discuss the differences and similarities within the rice,tobacco,sugar,and cotton agricultural sectors during the first half of the 1800s.

Question 74

"Jumping the broom" was often a part of slave __________ ceremonies.

Question 75

What interpretations have historians employed to describe the conditions of slaves and the general character of slavery? Why nave historians exhibited these differences of interpretation over time?

Question 76

One of the reasons that slavery was called a "__________ __________" was its use of punishments while masters emphasized the benign nature of human bondage.

Question 77

Most white southerners saw slavery as a benign institution.What evidence surfaces from the domestic slave trade that shows this conclusion is false?