Chapter Eleven: Slaves and Masters, 1793-1861

Practice Quiz:

1. The leader of the 1831 slave uprising in Southampton County, Virginia, was
a. Nat Turner.
b. Hinton R. Helper.
c. George Fitzhugh.
d. Thomas Reade Cobb.

2. Which description best describes the “gang” labor that many slaves performed on large plantations?
a. Slaves worked at their own pace with little supervision during an eight-hour day.
b. Large groups of slaves worked side by side with their masters.
c. Large groups of slaves worked from sunrise to sunset under a white overseer.
d. Large groups of slaves worked together to accomplish major projects.

3. The typical runaway slave was
a. a married man.
b. a young, unmarried man.
c. an elderly man.
d. a pregnant woman.

4. What was the Underground Railroad?
a. a train line that many white southerners used when hunting for escaped slaves
b. a formal, non-profit organization that helped return fugitive slaves to their masters
c. a formal, non-profit organization that helped fugitive slaves escape to Mexico
d. an informal network of people that helped fugitive slaves make their way to the North

5. The typical way for most slaves to express discontent was
a. political protest.
b. open, armed rebellion.
c. passive resistance.
d. organizing boycotts.

6. The Br’er Rabbit stories
a. showed how a fugitive slave could find safe haven in the underbrush.
b. were fantasies which enabled slaves to forget their harsh lot for a while.
c. were used to indoctrinate white children with the belief that slaves were no smarter than animals.
d. showed how a defenseless animal could overcome a stronger one through cunning and deceit, a metaphor for survival as a slave.

7. Free blacks in the South faced each of the following limitations EXCEPT
a. being unable to own or operate small businesses.
b. being required to carry documentation of their free status at all times.
c. being forced to register or have a white guardian who was responsible for their actions.
d. having to get official permission to move from one county to another.

8. At the time of the Civil War,
a. almost all southerners owned at least one slave.
b. most white southerners owned three or more slaves.
c. one quarter of white southerners owned slaves.
d. one half of white southerners owned slaves.

9. Which description best identifies how Christian slaveholders justified the enslavement of other human beings?
a. the belief that the prosperity of many was necessitated by the suffering of a few
b. the belief that suffering in slavery helped African Americans earn a place in Heaven
c. the belief that people of African descent were demons and therefore should be enslaved
d. the belief that people of African descent were mentally and morally inferior

10. Why did most slaves typically prefer living and working on a plantation rather than a small farm?
a. Plantation owners often worked alongside their slaves.
b. There was a greater sense of community and better living conditions on plantations.
c. Slaves often enjoyed a sense of camaraderie with plantation owners.
d. Rich planters usually avoided breaking up families on their plantations.

11. The yeoman farmers of the antebellum South
a. made their living by raising livestock, primarily hogs.
b. owned land that they worked themselves.
c. tended to live in the backcountry.
d. all of the above.

12. Hinton R. Helper tried to convince southern yeoman farmers that
a. slavery actually reduced their standard of living.
b. the American Colonization Society was relocating white people back to Europe.
c. they could someday be slave owners themselves.
d. they should free their slaves.

13. During the 1830s, southern pro-slavery apologists began to claim that slavery
a. was a positive good.
b. afforded slaves greater long-term security.
c. was sanctioned by the Bible.
d. all of the above

14. The internal slave trade in the United States ran from the
a. West to the upper South.
b. upper South to the West.
c. upper South to the lower South.
d. lower South to the upper South.

15. The rise of short-staple cotton as the South’s major crop
a. brought uniform and steady prosperity to the Lower South.
b. was made possible by the invention of the cotton gin.
c. promoted economic efficiency and progressive social change.
d. gave planters even more of an incentive to seek alternatives to slavery, the plantation, and the dependence on a single cash crop.