Question 1

"Enslaved Africans' labor is exploited for the benefit of landowning whites." This observation would most likely be made by which social theorist?
A) Weber
B) Noel
C) Lenski
D) Blauner
E) Marx

Accepted Answer

Karl Marx's theories focus on class struggle and the exploitation of labor, making him the most likely theorist to make this observation about the exploitation of enslaved Africans.

Question 2

A key feature of ______ is a low rate of overt conflict.
A) an estate system
B) paternalism
C) a rigid competitive system
D) a fluid competitive system
E) equality

Accepted Answer

Paternalism is characterized by a low rate of overt conflict because it involves a hierarchical system where authority figures provide care and make decisions for those under them, often leading to a suppression of open conflict.

Question 3

Slavery was a caste system, or a(n) ______ stratification system.
A) open
B) closed
C) flexible
D) fluid
E) stable

Accepted Answer

Slavery is considered a closed stratification system because individuals' social status is fixed at birth, and there is little to no opportunity for mobility or changing one's social position.

Question 4

How does Noel's third variable explain why Africans were enslaved instead of other groups?
A) Africans were well-organized social units with a vast knowledge of the countryside.
B) Africans were already indentured servants and well trained.
C) Africans did not negotiate better treatment.
D) Africans had no nearby relatives, no geographical knowledge of the area, and no secure escape refuge.
E) Africans had nearby relatives and had geographical knowledge of the area.

Accepted Answer

Noel's third variable theory suggests that for a group to be enslaved, they must be easily identifiable, have no power, and have no allies. Africans fit this description because they had no nearby relatives, lacked geographical knowledge of the area, and had no secure escape refuge, making them more vulnerable and easier to control compared to other groups.

Question 5

Which of the following statements about a caste system is true?
A) Systematic inequalities are not apparent in the caste system.
B) Slavery is not part of the caste system, or closed stratification system.
C) The caste system is an open stratification system.
D) There is mobility between social positions, and their ascribed status is not permanent.
E) There is no mobility between social positions, and their ascribed status is permanent.

Accepted Answer

The caste system is characterized by a lack of mobility between social positions, where individuals' social status is ascribed at birth and remains fixed throughout their life.

Question 6

According to the text, the single most important factor in the development of dominant-minority relations is ______.
A) the size of the dominant group
B) the degree of industrialization in the larger society
C) whether the dominant group is assimilationist or pluralistic
D) the nature of the contact situation
E) the degree of mutual ethnocentrism

Accepted Answer

The nature of the contact situation is often considered the single most important factor in the development of dominant-minority relations because it sets the initial conditions and dynamics between groups, influencing subsequent interactions, perceptions, and social structures.

Question 7

According to the Noel hypothesis, what will be the result of contact between groups that features ethnocentrism, competition between groups, and a differential in power?
A) assimilation
B) some system of inequality between the groups
C) some conflict followed by cultural pluralism
D) integration without acculturation
E) warfare

Accepted Answer

The Noel hypothesis posits that when contact between groups is characterized by ethnocentrism, competition, and a differential in power, the outcome will be some form of inequality between the groups. This theory suggests that these conditions foster divisions and hierarchies rather than peaceful integration or assimilation.

Question 8

The plantation elite designed and enacted an elaborate system of laws and customs that gave masters total legal power over slaves. In these laws, slaves were defined as ______.
A) laborers
B) children
C) chattel
D) servants
E) indentured

Accepted Answer

Slaves were defined as chattel, meaning they were considered personal property that could be bought, sold, and owned, rather than individuals with rights and freedoms.

Question 9

Robert Blauner's theory of dominant-minority relations emphasizes the importance of ______.
A) the initial contact situation
B) prejudice and racist ideology
C) minority group assimilation strategies
D) institutional racism
E) ethnocentrism

Accepted Answer

Robert Blauner's theory highlights the significance of the initial contact situation between dominant and minority groups, arguing that the nature of this first encounter sets the stage for the types of relationships and dynamics that will follow.

Question 10

In colonial America, Native Americans were not enslaved. According to Noel's hypothesis, this was because ______.
A) the differential in power often favored Native Americans
B) there was no competition between colonists and Native Americans
C) the colonists had more power than Native Americans
D) the colonists felt greater ethnocentrism toward Africans than Native Americans
E) the colonists preferred White indentured servants, who were more available and reliable

Accepted Answer

Noel's hypothesis suggests that the differential in power often favored Native Americans, making it difficult for colonists to enslave them. Native Americans had the advantage of knowing the land and could escape more easily, and they also had established communities that could resist enslavement.

Question 11

Most scholars agree that anti-Black prejudice ______.
A) was an important cause of American slavery
B) was a result of American slavery
C) existed in England before the start of the slave trade
D) declined as slavery began to take shape in colonial times
E) was based on the mutual ethnocentrism between colonists and Africans

Accepted Answer

Most scholars agree that anti-Black prejudice was largely a result of American slavery, as the institution of slavery necessitated and reinforced racial ideologies to justify the subjugation and exploitation of African people.

Question 12

The movement to end slavery in the United States was called ______.
A) reformism
B) Quakerism
C) humanitarianism
D) abolitionism
E) revolution

Accepted Answer

The movement to end slavery in the United States was called abolitionism. Abolitionists worked to abolish slavery and end the racial discrimination and segregation associated with it.

Question 13

Which of the following describes the labor performed by women during slavery?
A) Enslaved women most often worked in isolated conditions.
B) Enslaved women were primarily assigned less hours than men.
C) Enslaved women performed work similar to that of White women.
D) Enslaved women performed work aligned with expectations of femininity.
E) Enslaved women were assigned group-oriented tasks.

Accepted Answer

Enslaved women often worked in groups, particularly in fields, performing labor-intensive tasks such as planting, tending, and harvesting crops.

Question 14

During slavery, which group experienced triple jeopardy?
A) African American men
B) Native American men
C) European American women
D) African American women
E) Native American women

Accepted Answer

African American women experienced triple jeopardy during slavery due to their race, gender, and legal status as slaves, facing discrimination and hardship on multiple fronts.

Question 15

The population of Native Americans in the continental United States decreased dramatically by 1890 because ______.
A) warfare and battles led to casualties
B) of interracial marriage
C) of coercive assimilation
D) Native Americans died from a variety of infectious diseases
E) Native Americans migrated westward

Accepted Answer

Native Americans died from a variety of infectious diseases brought by European settlers, such as smallpox, measles, and influenza. These diseases were often fatal to Native Americans, who had no immunity to them.

Question 16

Slavery developed in the United States as a response to ______.
A) prejudice from European colonists
B) the desire to remove Native Americans from their land
C) a labor supply problem
D) massive immigration of Africans to the Americas
E) economic inequality

Accepted Answer

Slavery in the United States developed primarily as a solution to a labor supply problem, especially in the agriculture sector, where there was a high demand for labor to work on the plantations in the South.

Question 17

Much of the southwest became U.S. territory in 1848 as a result of ______.
A) the revolt of Texas against Mexico
B) the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
C) the American Civil War
D) the California Gold Rush
E) the Dawes Allotment Act

Accepted Answer

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War in 1848, resulting in the United States acquiring a significant portion of the Southwest, including present-day California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and parts of Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming.

Question 18

One difference in the situations of Mexican Americans and African Americans in the 19th century was that ______.
A) Mexican Americans were much more acculturated
B) African Americans were exploited for their land, Mexican Americans for their labor
C) Mexican Americans were able to retain much more of their culture
D) Mexican Americans were exploited only for their land
E) Mexican Americans were exploited for their wealth

Accepted Answer

Mexican Americans were able to retain much more of their culture compared to African Americans, who were subjected to systematic efforts to erase their cultural identities through slavery. Mexican Americans, while facing discrimination and exploitation, managed to preserve more of their cultural practices, languages, and traditions.

Question 19

The results of contact with Anglo culture for Native Americans and Mexican American women were ______.
A) variable; their status relative to men sometimes rose, although always in the context of conquest and colonization
B) negative; they lost much more power and status than the men
C) positive; they gained power and status relative to the men
D) positive only for married women; single women always lost power and status
E) negative; they were often forced to become the heads of the household and perform additional labor

Accepted Answer

The impact of Anglo culture on Native Americans and Mexican American women was variable. While their status sometimes improved relative to men, it was always within the broader context of conquest and colonization, which often had negative effects overall.

Question 20

Which set of terms best characterizes the situations African Americans, Native Americans, and Mexican Americans experienced as a result of their contact with Anglo-American society?
A) colonization and paternalism
B) pluralism and separatism
C) colonization and immigration
D) secondary structural assimilation and caste system
E) integration and Anglo-conformity

Accepted Answer

Colonization and paternalism best characterize the experiences of African Americans, Native Americans, and Mexican Americans in their contact with Anglo-American society. Colonization refers to the process of establishing control over the indigenous people of an area, which happened to Native Americans and, in a different context, to African Americans through slavery and to Mexican Americans through the annexation of territories. Paternalism describes a relationship where one group assumes a parental, controlling role over another, often justified by presumed superiority or benevolence, which was a common attitude towards these groups by Anglo-Americans.

Quiz 3: The Development of Dominantminority Relations in Preindustrial America: The Origins of Slavery

"Enslaved Africans' labor is exploited for the benefit of landowning whites." This observation would most likely be made by which social theorist?

A key feature of ______ is a low rate of overt conflict.

Slavery was a caste system, or a(n) ______ stratification system.

How does Noel's third variable explain why Africans were enslaved instead of other groups?

Which of the following statements about a caste system is true?

According to the text, the single most important factor in the development of dominant-minority relations is ______.

According to the Noel hypothesis, what will be the result of contact between groups that features ethnocentrism, competition between groups, and a differential in power?

The plantation elite designed and enacted an elaborate system of laws and customs that gave masters total legal power over slaves. In these laws, slaves were defined as ______.

Robert Blauner's theory of dominant-minority relations emphasizes the importance of ______.

In colonial America, Native Americans were not enslaved. According to Noel's hypothesis, this was because ______.

Most scholars agree that anti-Black prejudice ______.

The movement to end slavery in the United States was called ______.

Which of the following describes the labor performed by women during slavery?

During slavery, which group experienced triple jeopardy?

The population of Native Americans in the continental United States decreased dramatically by 1890 because ______.

Slavery developed in the United States as a response to ______.

Much of the southwest became U.S. territory in 1848 as a result of ______.

One difference in the situations of Mexican Americans and African Americans in the 19th century was that ______.

The results of contact with Anglo culture for Native Americans and Mexican American women were ______.

Which set of terms best characterizes the situations African Americans, Native Americans, and Mexican Americans experienced as a result of their contact with Anglo-American society?