Deck 5: African Americans in the New Nation, 1783-1820

Question 1

What compromise was made over the Atlantic slave trade in the Constitution?

A) It was immediately abolished, although southerners were allowed to keep the slaves they had.
B) It was gradually abolished over the next twenty years.
C) No compromise was made over the Atlantic slave trade. The Constitution outlawed the domestic slave trade.
D) The Constitution limited the Atlantic slave trade to a small number of ships per year, until a constitutional amendment after the Civil War banned it altogether.

Answer 1

It was gradually abolished over the next twenty years.

Question 2

Which of the following was not a force favoring the continuation of slavery?

A) the Constitution
B) the development of cotton as a cash crop
C) racism
D) continuing excitement over the Revolution

Answer 2

continuing excitement over the Revolution

Question 3

What right did Massachusetts, unique among the colonies, grant its black residents in 1783?

A) the right for free blacks to own property and be legally married
B) the right for black men, who paid taxes, to vote
C) the right for both black men and women to vote
D) the right to freedom of speech, even for slaves.

Answer 3

the right for black men, who paid taxes, to vote

Question 4

What did the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 not do?

A) ban all slavery in territory west of the Appalachians after 1800
B) provide rules and regulations for the sale of land
C) support public education
D) provide ways for the area to form states and come into the union

Question 5

What statement is not true of early (before 1832) anti-slavery societies?

A) They were dominated by Quakers.
B) They included the active participation by and membership of some African Americans.
C) They were most dominant in the northern states.
D) They tended to focus on gradual emancipation plans.

Question 6

Why did many anti-slavery societies focus on gradual emancipation rather than immediate emancipation?

A) Northern states had successfully passed plans for gradual emancipation.
B) Many thought that under immediate emancipation, whites would lose their place at the top of the racial hierarchy.
C) Some anti-slavery groups thought that immediate emancipation would ignore older slaves.
D) Anti-slavery societies actually focuses on immediate emancipation from the very beginning.

Question 7

In general, which of the following was not a reasons why a master might free a slave?

A) It might generate a profit for them, in addition to the slaves' labor.
B) They might think that manumission was the only way to keep slaves from leaving en masse.
C) They might not find a certain slave useful.
D) Most masters after the revolution tended to believe in the equality of all humans.

Question 8

What was the significance of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 for African Americans?

A) It had almost no effect, since huge numbers of slaves continued to live under slavery until the Civil War.
B) The ordinance set a precedent for limiting where slavery could and could not exist.
C) It demonstrated that the Articles of Confederation government had significant amounts of power in many areas.
D) It banned the slave trade, but not slavery, from the territory.

Question 9

How did the slave trade change in the early 1800s?

A) The sale of children under 15 was prohibited by many states.
B) The domestic slave trade, mostly westward, increased dramatically.
C) Slave trade regulations became much more lenient and permissive between the United States and the Caribbean.
D) All trading of slaves was completely abolished in 1808.

Question 10

What is one difference between earlier abolition attempts and the initiatives in Connecticut and Rhode Island?

A) Rhode Island and Connecticut abolished slavery immediately, rather than gradually.
B) Blacks took enormous risks to their lives by directly protesting slavery and calling for its end through newspapers and pamphlets.
C) State legislatures, rather than individual blacks, took the lead in abolishing slavery.
D) Connecticut and Rhode Island were very similar to all other New England attempts to abolish slavery.

Question 11

Which two states abolished slavery immediately during the 1770s and the 1780s?

A) Vermont and Connecticut
B) New York and New Jersey
C) Pennsylvania and Rhode Island
D) Vermont and Massachusetts

Question 12

What was the result of the Three-Fifths Clause in the Constitution?

A) It allowed three-fifths of free blacks to vote in urban areas.
B) It pushed for three-fifths of all American taxes to come from foreign sources.
C) It gave the South increased political power on the basis of people who could not have any say in government.
D) Three-fifths of the slaves in the North had to be freed by 1787, the date of adoption of the Constitution.

Question 13

What do the legal cases over slavery and black rights in Massachusetts in the 1780s tell you about that colony and her black residents?

A) Black residents rarely won legal cases, as racism was well entrenched in the law.
B) Black residents rarely attempted change, since they were often illiterate, uneducated and had no idea of freedom or the possibility of their rights under the law.
C) The legal cases were almost always instigated by white lawyers or activists interested in abolishing slavery, and had little to do with the blacks in the area.
D) In some cases, the courts seemed willing to follow the letter of the law and apply equality and rights across the races.

Question 14

What was the name of the first anti-slavery society in the world?

Question 15

How did Massachusetts abolish slavery?

A) Elizabeth Freeman and Quok Walker sued for their freedom under terms of a new state constitution.
B) The state added a new clause to its constitution, immediately and clearly abolishing slavery.
C) Slaves in Massachusetts began rioting in the streets, demanding changes.
D) Massachusetts never had slavery in the first place.

Question 16

The ___________________ of 1793, based on provisions in the Constitution, allowed masters to pursue escaped slaves across state lines, and find, capture and regain legal custody of them. It extended the power of slavery into the North.

Question 17

What was the name of the first governing document of the United States of America?

Question 18

Why was cotton production an important development in the continuation of slavery in the South?

A) Demand for cotton was skyrocketing, and slaves were needed to pick it.
B) The South was becoming more industrialized, and needed more slaves.
C) It generated income for the South at the expense of the North.
D) Because cotton had no new technological innovations between 1750 and 1850, so it needed a lot of labor.

Question 19

Why was the collapse of slavery different in New England versus the Middle States?

A) African Americans in New England were under much tighter control, and could not exercise any rights.
B) More white people owned slaves in New England, because of all the industry there.
C) Religious and political beliefs influenced whites into accepting the demise of slavery in New England more quickly.
D) The Middle States had more economic interest in slavery than New England did.

Question 20

Anti-slavery societies were not generally very successful in the South. What was one change across a few southern states that did affect slaves' chances for freedom?

A) States limited punishment options. Whipping was outlawed after 1850.
B) Manumission laws were made more permissive.
C) Slaves were allowed an education in certain areas, like reading and writing.
D) Slaves were allowed to move off their plantations if they wanted to, as long as they returned to work.

Question 21

What prominent Protestant denomination came out of black efforts to establish a separate church in Philadelphia?

A) African Methodist Episcopal
B) Baptist
C) Catholics
D) Nation of Islam

Question 22

What statement is not true about mutual aid societies?

A) They were patterned after white institutions.
B) They were always blind to color difference, especially within black society.
C) They were similar to insurance companies, and helped provide benefits in the event of death and sickness for their members.
D) They completely eliminated racial discrimination in the insurance industry.

Question 23

What is not true about black schools established after the Revolution?

A) There were no black schools established until after the Mexican War.
B) Black schools were only established in the South, since the North already had several.
C) They were always taught by whites, although blacks raised the money for them.
D) Black schools generally were in session for longer periods during the year than white schools, since many black children had no formal education up to that point.

Question 24

What is true about the early separate black churches established around the Great Awakening?

A) They were never independent institutions.
B) They generally continued the African indigenous religion.
C) They were generally radical in their interpretation of the Bible, as most black churches practiced speaking in tongues and snake worship.
D) They had few members, although some of their leaders were very vocal.

Question 25

Which of the following was not an effect of Gabriel's Rebellion?

A) Fearing for their lives, more whites began to liberate their slaves.
B) Gabriel's networks continued to exist and be influential after his death.
C) His message of liberation was spread westward with the slave trade.
D) Divisions within the slave community were revealed as some slaves were against him.

Question 26

What did men like Prince Hall and James Forten feel about what was best for African Americans?

A) Since they were racists, they thought that slavery was the best place for blacks.
B) They were against slavery, but generally felt that God, not men, would end the injustice.
C) They thought that blacks should begin to file legal cases to end discrimination and abolish slavery.
D) They generally believed that if blacks kept working and protesting, the ideals of the American Revolution would be attained.

Question 27

Which slave led a rebellion in Virginia in 1800?

Question 28

What were the earliest separate institutions formed?

A) churches
B) newspapers
C) civil rights organizations
D) mutual aid societies

Question 29

Which group grew most rapidly in the area of New Orleans after the Louisiana Purchase?

A) Urban free African Americans
B) Slaves who came directly from Africa
C) Creoles
D) Slaves imported from Brazil

Question 30

How are Richard Allen and Absalom Jones important in African-American history?

A) They were the first black men to speak for women's rights.
B) They led the formation of the first separate and independent black churches in America.
C) They were the first black men elected to the United States Senate.
D) They pressed for blacks to adopt white ways and become whites.

Question 31

How did Prince Hall found a Masonic lodge for blacks in America?

A) He founded a Masonic lodge with the help and support of some white masons in America.
B) He completed the application process under an assumed name, and was able to pass for white because of his light skin color.
C) He went through the British membership application process.
D) He was unable to form a Masonic lodge, because of the racism of whites in the group.

Question 32

Why did blacks form separate institutions after the American Revolution?

A) They generally did not-in fact, many joined white institutions..
B) They wanted to separate from the United States and form another country. Forming their own institutions seemed a positive start..
C) There was a much larger free black community in many northern cities after the Revolution.
D) Many blacks wanted their children to grow up without seeing white people at all.

Question 33

What prompted black members of St. George's Methodist Church in Philadelphia to separate and form their own church?

A) White members advocated returning some of the black members to slavery.
B) Whites erupted in violence during service, beating several black clergy members.
C) White members of the church attempted to move a member to the black area during prayer.
D) White members refused to support the underground railroad.

Question 34

What statement is not true about racism in the early 1800s?

A) Science tended to be more objective, and stated that blacks and whites were basically equal genetically.
B) Both northerners and southerners commonly held similar racist views.
C) Racists believed that black people were closer to apes than to whites.
D) Educated people were beginning to believe that blacks were not inferior.

Question 35

Which of the following was not a difficulty faced by early black schools?

A) There were threats of violence against them by whites.
B) They never had sufficient enrollment.
C) African-American parents thought that schools were useless.
D) Funding was a constant problem, as many African Americans had little money.

Question 36

What did men like Jupiter Hammond and John Chavis feel about what was best for African Americans?

A) Since they were racists, they thought that slavery was the best place for blacks.
B) They were against slavery, but generally felt that God, not men, would end the injustice.
C) They thought that blacks should begin to file legal cases to end discrimination and abolish slavery.
D) They generally believed that if blacks kept working and protesting, the ideals of the American Revolution would be attained.

Question 37

What famous foreign revolution was an influence on slaves planning uprisings in the United States?

A) the French Revolution
B) the revolution in Haiti, led by Toussaint Louverture
C) the massive Cuban Revolution of slaves in 1793
D) a slave uprising in Quebec, Canada, where slaves won their freedom from French masters

Question 38

What groups of blacks emerged as leaders after the American Revolution?

A) slaves who led violent rebellions
B) clergy and businessmen
C) uneducated men
D) the new class of black millionaires

Question 39

What was the most common form of resistance to slavery among blacks?

A) physical violence against their white masters
B) poisoning of whites by slave cooks
C) day-to-day resistance and even escape
D) preaching against the evils of slavery on urban street corners

Question 40

Why did freemasonry especially appeal to blacks?

A) Black freemasons were allowed greater access to jobs and political power than other blacks.
B) White freemasons traced their roots to Egypt, which blacks associated with their African heritage.
C) Freemasons held many large, wild parties, which attracted many blacks who had no other forms of public entertainment.
D) Freemasons allowed a chance for black men and women to socialize.

Question 41

What event heightened sectional tensions between the North and the South, leading to increased militancy on both sides - as the North came out against slavery and the South for it?

A) the Missouri Compromise
B) Gabriel's Rebellion
C) the War of 1812
D) the Declaration of Independence

Question 42

Who organized the Louisiana Rebellion?

A) Gabriel [Prosser]
B) [Charles] Deslondes
C) Nat Turner
D) John Brown

Question 43

Which of the following statements is true about the southern reaction to slave violence?

A) They refused to enact laws and practices to make slavery harsher.
B) They generally reacted passively, as the uprisings were quickly put down..
C) They began to be much more suspicious of foreigners and outsiders, including northerners.
D) They began to liberate more "troublesome" slaves and force them to move North.

Question 44

Regarding black military service during the War of 1812, what had white Americans practically forgotten?

A) Haiti's revolution
B) blacks' heroism and service during the American Revolution
C) the violence of Gabriel's revolution and the Louisiana Revolution
D) the origins and development of slavery and blacks' desire for freedom

Question 45

What statement is true about black service during the War of 1812?

A) They only served on the American side, with many incidents of bravery.
B) They refused to serve, thinking that they would not benefit a nation that kept some of their race in bondage.
C) They were considered an "internal foe" by some white Americans.
D) All of these are correct.

Question 46

How did many Americans view the War of 1812?

A) as a war to end slavery
B) as a terrible war thrust upon them by the government
C) as an attempt to gain large amounts of territory from France
D) as a second part of the struggle for independence