Question 1

The white male elite delegates at the 1787 Constitutional Convention have all the following in common EXCEPT:
A) they are all men of European origin.
B) most of the 55 men are well-off by the standards of their day.
C) at least 40 percent of them have been or are slaveowners.
D) none of them profit from commerce in slave-produced agricultural products or by supplying provisions to slaveholders and slave traders.

Accepted Answer

The white male elite delegates at the 1787 Constitutional Convention included individuals who profited from commerce in slave-produced agricultural products or by supplying provisions to slaveholders and slave traders, making choice D incorrect. Choices A, B, and C accurately describe common characteristics among the delegates.

Question 2

George Washington:
A) was one of the richest men in the colonies because of the hundreds of black people he held in bondage.
B) was the first president to live in the White House.
C) is buried in a crypt beneath the U.S. Capitol.
D) was famous for his many victories on the battlefield.
E) was a Republican.

Accepted Answer

George Washington was one of the wealthiest men in the colonies due to his ownership of land and enslaved people. He was not the first president to live in the White House, as it was completed after his presidency. He is buried at his Mount Vernon estate, not under the U.S. Capitol. While he had military successes, he is more famous for his leadership and strategy rather than numerous battlefield victories. The Republican Party did not exist during his time; he was not affiliated with any political party.

Question 3

The white male elite delegates at the 1787 Constitutional Convention:
A) disagreed over whether the new government should protect private property.
B) were vehemently opposed to existing economic inequality.
C) consisted of a small left wing, with strong views on class equality and popular revolution.
D) had less influence if they belonged to the center and the right wing of the elite than if they belonged to the left wing.
E) among the left wing, included numerous delegates who desired some form of monarchy.

Accepted Answer

C

Question 4

The white male elite delegates at the 1787 Constitutional Convention:
A) believed the trade in, and enslavement of, people of African descent was an unimportant and acquiescent issue.
B) mostly all accepted the view that people of African descent could be the chattel property of others and were not human beings with citizens' rights.
C) vastly disagreed on the idea that property is the "main object of Society."
D) opposed the idea that freedom meant the protection of unequal accumulation of property, particularly property that could produce a profit in the emerging capitalist system.
E) gathered with the purpose of deconstructing the existing bourgeois-democratic government.

Accepted Answer

The delegates at the 1787 Constitutional Convention largely accepted the view that people of African descent could be considered the property of others, reflecting the prevailing attitudes towards slavery and the rights of Black people at the time.

Question 5

Article 1 speaks only of three groups in the new nation. Which of the following is NOT one of those groups?
A) free persons
B) Indians not taxed
C) immigrant (newcomers)
D) all other persons

Accepted Answer

Article 1 refers to the population categories considered for representation and taxation purposes in the early United States, mentioning "free persons," "Indians not taxed," and "all other persons" (often understood to refer to enslaved individuals). It does not specifically mention "immigrants" or "newcomers" as a distinct category.

Question 6

Who among the delegates refused to sign the Constitution document, in part because of its slavery provisions.
A) George Mason and Elbridge Gerry
B) George Washington and Rufus King
C) George Wythe and Edmund J. Randolph
D) George Read and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
E) George Clymer and Benjamin Franklin

Accepted Answer

George Mason and Elbridge Gerry refused to sign the Constitution, in part because of its provisions related to slavery and the lack of a bill of rights.

Question 7

By the end of the summer of 1787 there were at least seven sections where the framers had the system of slavery clearly in mind. These included all the following EXCEPT:
A) Article 1, Section 2, which counts slaves as three-fifths of a person.
B) Article 1, Section 8, which gives Congress authority to suppress slave and other insurrections.
C) Article 1, Section 9, which prevents the slave trade from being abolished before 1808.
D) Article 1, Sections 9 and 10, which exempt goods made by slaves from export duties.
E) Article 4, Section 2, which exempts the federal government from helping state governments put down domestic violence, including slave uprisings.

Accepted Answer

Article 4, Section 2 actually requires the federal government to help in putting down domestic violence upon the request of a state legislature or governor, not exempt it from doing so. This could include assistance with slave uprisings.

Question 8

Until the mid-to-late nineteenth century, Indigenous societies were mostly viewed as separate nations, with whites advocating for all the following EXCEPT:
A) treaty-making.
B) land purchases or land theft.
C) the "civilizing" of Indigenous Americans.
D) "Indian wars."
E) extermination.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Until the mid-to-late nineteenth century, Indigenous societies...

Question 9

At a gathering in Massachusetts on July 4, 1854, the eminent abolitionist _____________ burned a copy of the U.S. Constitution, uttering the words: "So perish all compromises with tyranny."
A) Elizabeth Margaret Chandler
B) Lucretia Mott
C) William Lloyd Garrison
D) Angelina Grimke
E) John Brown

Accepted Answer

William Lloyd Garrison was the abolitionist who burned a copy of the U.S. Constitution on July 4, 1854, as a dramatic protest against slavery, declaring it a pact with slavery and tyranny.

Question 10

All the following men enslaved people of African descent EXCEPT:
A) religious leader Cotton Mather, the famous Puritan.
B) religious leader William Penn, a Quaker and founder of Pennsylvania.
C) the founder of U.S. psychiatry, Dr. Benjamin Rush.
D) men of politics Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry, Benjamin Franklin, and Sam Houston.
E) the sixth President of the United States, John Quincy Adams.

Accepted Answer

John Quincy Adams was known for his strong opposition to slavery, unlike the others listed, who were known to have enslaved people at various points in their lives.

Question 11

Of whom was President Thomas Jefferson speaking when he wrote: "This unfortunate race, whom we had been taking so much pains to save and to civilize, have by their unexpected desertion and ferocious barbarities justified extermination and now await our decision on their fate"?
A) African Americas
B) Asian Americans
C) Immigrant newcomers
D) Native Americans
E) The Win Tribe ("Mongrel Virginians")

Accepted Answer

Jefferson was referring to Native Americans in this quote, expressing a perspective that reflects the contentious and often violent history between European settlers (and later the United States government) and Indigenous peoples.

Question 12

Known to Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington, all prominent slaveholders among the founders, _____________ freed all 500 of the African Americans he enslaved; he had come to view slavery as "contrary to the principles of religion and justice."
A) Wade Hampton III
B) Robert Carter III
C) David Rice Atchison
D) William Aiken Jr.
E) Judah P. Benjamin

Accepted Answer

Robert Carter III, a contemporary of prominent founding fathers and a significant slaveholder in his own right, initiated one of the largest acts of emancipation in the United States prior to the Civil War. He freed over 500 enslaved individuals through a deed of gift in 1791, motivated by his beliefs in justice and religion.

Question 13

Systemic racism includes a diverse assortment of racist realities, including:
A) the unjustly gained economic and political power of whites.
B) continuing resource inequalities.
C) the rationalizing white-racist frame.
D) major institutions created to preserve white advantage and power.
E) All the above

Accepted Answer

Systemic racism encompasses a wide range of racist phenomena, including the unjust economic and political power held by whites, ongoing resource inequalities, the perpetuation of a white-racist frame to rationalize these disparities, and the establishment of major institutions designed to maintain white advantage and power. All these elements contribute to the structure and perpetuation of systemic racism.

Question 14

____________ was the first social scientist to analyze fully the emergence of the dominant idea of whiteness and of a white-racist order extending beyond the U.S.
A) W.E.B. Du Bois
B) Frederick Douglass
C) Oliver C. Cox
D) Ida B. Wells-Barnett
E) Anna Julia Cooper

Accepted Answer

W.E.B. Du Bois was a pioneering sociologist and civil rights activist who extensively analyzed the concept of race and the emergence of a white-dominated social order in his works, notably in "The Souls of Black Folk" and his concept of "double consciousness."

Question 15

In a pathbreaking book, _________ argued that the anti-lynching crusade of her/his era, in which s/he was a leader, will determine "whether the precepts and theories of Christianity are professed and practiced by American white people as Golden Rules of thought and action, or adopted as a system of morals to be preached to heathen until they attain to the intelligence which needs the system of Lynch Law."
A) W.E.B. Du Bois
B) Frederick Douglass
C) Oliver Cox
D) Ida B. Wells-Barnett
E) Anna Julia Cooper

Accepted Answer

Ida B. Wells-Barnett was a prominent leader in the anti-lynching crusade and argued passionately against the practice, highlighting the hypocrisy of Christian morals in the context of racial violence.

Question 16

One of the first extended social science analyses of U.S. society as a well-institutionalized system of racism was that of _____________, who provided in the 1940s a well-researched argument showing how sustained labor exploitation of black Americans created a centuries-old structure of "racial classes."
A) W.E.B. Du Bois
B) Frederick Douglass
C) Oliver Cox
D) Ida B. Wells-Barnett
E) Anna Julia Cooper

Accepted Answer

Oliver Cox, in the 1940s, conducted one of the first extended social science analyses of U.S. society as a well-institutionalized system of racism, arguing that the sustained labor exploitation of black Americans led to the creation of "racial classes."

Question 17

Analyzing Europe's extensive colonization of Africa, __________ demonstrated that extreme poverty and degradation in the African colonies was a key source of wealth and luxury in Europe.
A) W.E.B. Du Bois
B) Frederick Douglass
C) Oliver Cox
D) Ida B. Wells-Barnett
E) Anna Julia Cooper

Accepted Answer

W.E.B. Du Bois extensively analyzed and critiqued the exploitation of Africa by European colonizers, arguing that the wealth and luxury enjoyed in Europe were directly linked to the extreme poverty and degradation in African colonies.

Question 18

For systemic racism to persist across many human generations, it must reproduce well and routinely the necessary socioeconomic conditions. These conditions include:
A) substantial control by whites of major economic resources.
B) substantial possession of whites of the political, police, and ideological power to dominate subordinated groups.
C) both a and b

Accepted Answer

Systemic racism persists through the control of economic resources and political, police, and ideological power by a dominant group, in this case, whites, to maintain dominance over subordinated groups. Both conditions are necessary for its reproduction across generations.

Question 19

White families' median wealth is about ____ times that of black families, and ___ times that of Latino families.
A) 5; 2
B) 7; 6
C) 13; 10
D) 15; 13
E) 17; 14

Accepted Answer

White families' median wealth is about 13 times that of black families, and 10 times that of Latino families. This disparity highlights significant racial wealth gaps in the United States.

Question 20

Recent government reports signal the cumulative cost of several centuries of white racial oppression, including:
A) a life expectancy for the average black person three to four years (female/male) less than the average white person.
B) the median black household being about 61 percent of the income of the median white household.
C) the median wealth of black families being only about one thirteenth of the median wealth of white families.
D) All the above

Accepted Answer

All the options (A, B, C) correctly illustrate the economic and health disparities that have resulted from centuries of racial oppression, as indicated by various government reports and studies. These disparities include differences in life expectancy, income, and wealth between black and white populations in the United States.

Quiz 1: Systemic Racism-A Comprehensive Perspective

The white male elite delegates at the 1787 Constitutional Convention have all the following in common EXCEPT:

George Washington:

The white male elite delegates at the 1787 Constitutional Convention:

The white male elite delegates at the 1787 Constitutional Convention:

Article 1 speaks only of three groups in the new nation. Which of the following is NOT one of those groups?

Who among the delegates refused to sign the Constitution document, in part because of its slavery provisions.

By the end of the summer of 1787 there were at least seven sections where the framers had the system of slavery clearly in mind. These included all the following EXCEPT:

Until the mid-to-late nineteenth century, Indigenous societies were mostly viewed as separate nations, with whites advocating for all the following EXCEPT:

At a gathering in Massachusetts on July 4, 1854, the eminent abolitionist _____________ burned a copy of the U.S. Constitution, uttering the words: "So perish all compromises with tyranny."

All the following men enslaved people of African descent EXCEPT:

Of whom was President Thomas Jefferson speaking when he wrote: "This unfortunate race, whom we had been taking so much pains to save and to civilize, have by their unexpected desertion and ferocious barbarities justified extermination and now await our decision on their fate"?

Known to Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington, all prominent slaveholders among the founders, _____________ freed all 500 of the African Americans he enslaved; he had come to view slavery as "contrary to the principles of religion and justice."

Systemic racism includes a diverse assortment of racist realities, including:

____________ was the first social scientist to analyze fully the emergence of the dominant idea of whiteness and of a white-racist order extending beyond the U.S.

Analyzing Europe's extensive colonization of Africa, __________ demonstrated that extreme poverty and degradation in the African colonies was a key source of wealth and luxury in Europe.

For systemic racism to persist across many human generations, it must reproduce well and routinely the necessary socioeconomic conditions. These conditions include:

White families' median wealth is about __ times that of black families, and _ times that of Latino families.

Recent government reports signal the cumulative cost of several centuries of white racial oppression, including: