Inquisitive #11- 1301 (part 1)

Identify the statements that describe the Underground Railroad.

Harriet Tubman was the most famous "conductor" on the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was not a single, centralized system, but rather a series of interlocking local networks involving black and white abolitionists helping slaves reach safety. "Stations" on the Underground Railroad were hideouts maintained by abolitionists to help fugitive slaves.

Identify the escapes or contributions to escapes made by the following individuals.

She was the best known "conductor" on the Underground Railroad. It is estimated that she saved seventy-five men, women, and children from slavery. -Harriet Tubman He packed himself into a crate and had it shipped from Richmond to Philadelphia. -Henry Brown He escaped from the Upper South and became a leading abolitionist speaker and writer. -Frederick Douglass

What does it reveal about the slave population in 1860?

Slave ownership was not evenly distributed throughout the South but was concentrated around areas with fertile soil and easy access to national and international markets. South Carolina had the highest concentration of slaves.

In some ways, gender roles under slavery differed markedly from those in the larger society. Why did the nineteenth century's "cult of domesticity" not apply to slave women?

Slave women were expected to work in the fields with the men, not take care of the home life.

What does this image of a southern port reveal about the southern economy?

The cotton trade created a massive industry focused on exporting the region's cotton to the rest of the country and the world. Slaves contributed to all aspects of the cotton industry, from laboring in the fields to preparing the "white gold" for sale.

Many slaves fully understood the impossibility of directly challenging the slave system. This meant their folktales and biblical favorites tended to glorify the weak outwitting much stronger foes. Identify why the following Bible stories and folktales were popular with slaves.

glorifies the weak outwitting stronger foes like the bear and the fox -Brer Rabbit God chooses Moses to lead the enslaved Jews out of Egypt into a promised land of freedom. -Exodus Defeats Goliath, who appears to be the unbeatable, all-powerful giant -David

The largest plantations were concentrated in coastal South Carolina and which geographic feature?

the Mississippi river

The amount of revenue generated by slavery for the South and the rest of the country made it extremely difficult to abolish the peculiar institution in a region where cotton was king. These profits were a powerful obstacle to abolition.

True

While there were no traditional gender roles when it came to slaves' forced labor, in their private lives slaves did take on traditional gender roles, with women caring for the home and men providing for the family.

True

Identify the legal status and restrictions put on slaves in the American South.

Under the law, slaves were seen as property. It was illegal to teach a slave to read and write. Slaves could not testify in court against white persons, sign contracts, or acquire property.

Slaveowners employed a variety of means in their attempts to maintain order and discipline among their human property and persuade them to labor productively. Identify the methods used to control slaves and force them to work for their masters.

whipping slaves and other physical punishments prohibiting relations between house servants and field hands to prevent collaboration against the master

Slave revolts in the United States were much larger and more frequent than in Brazil and the West Indies.

False

With the price of slaves rising dramatically after the closing of the African slave trade, it made economic sense for slaveowners to pay less for health care and shelter.

False

North American slave culture drew very little on African heritage. This was due to the fact that so many American slaves were American born and heavily influenced by white Christianity, political beliefs, and music.

False

Compared to slaves in Brazil or the West Indies, American slaves had - diets. This was because the South had abundant food supplies and wild game. But, although slaves in the United States enjoyed better material lives than slaves in other regions, they had far less access to -.

Better Freedom

Identify the statements that describe Frederick Douglass's critique of slavery.

Douglass says that slaves are the truest Americans in that all they want is liberty. Douglass relates slavery to American values in order to question a society that does not practice its commitment to liberty for all people by enslaving black people.

What arguments does De Bow make in attempt to demonstrate that the Bible sanctions slavery?

If the servant of God, Abraham, had slaves, then slavery is not morally wrong. Slavery appears in both the New and Old Testaments of the Bible.

Identify the statements that describe the Old South.

In 1860, the South produced less than 10 percent of the nation's manufactured goods. Slavery powerfully shaped race relations, politics, religion, and the law in the Old South.

Identify the key differences between slavery in the United States and slavery in Brazil.

In the American South, states set limits on voluntary manumission, requiring such acts be approved by the legislature. In Brazil slaves were often given freedom as a form of celebration, or allowed to purchase their own freedom.

Identify the statements that describe the Second Middle Passage.

Many commercial districts in southern cities contained the offices of slave traders, complete with signs reading "Negro Sales" or "Negroes Bought Here." Slave trading within the United States between 1820 and 1860 was a visible, established business.

Identify the statements that describe slave marriage and life in the United States.

Most adult slaves married and when their unions were not disrupted by sale, they typically married for a lifetime. One of every three slave marriages in slave-selling states, like Virginia, was broken by sale.

Resistance to slavery occasionally moved beyond individual and group acts of defiance to outright rebellions. Match the rebellions to their corresponding events.

The leader of this rebellion was outspoken about equal rights and well informed; he was accused of supposedly organizing a rebellion in South Carolina but was caught before it came to fruition. -Denmark Vesey's conspiracy Some 500 men and women armed with sugarcane knives, axes, and guns marched toward the city, destroying property until they were stopped by the military. -New Orleans Led by a slave preacher and religious mystic in Southampton County, Virginia, this was the last large-scale slave rebellion in the South. -Nat Turner's Rebellion

Slavery in the American South and the West Indies differed considerably. Identify the demographic differences in slavery in the following regions

The number of male and female slaves were about the same. -American South The number of male slaves outnumbered the female slaves. -West Indies Marriage among slaves in this region was much more common, leading to a greater possibility of creating family life. -American South

Identify the statements that describe the southern planter class.

The planter class wielded significant political influence in the South because of its wealth and power. The "planter class" was a term for the families who owned twenty or more slaves, and as a result, produced the most profits.

Identify the obstacles faced by slaves attempting to escape.

There were regular slave patrols, law enforcement, and a legal system designed to ensure slaves did not escape from their masters. Slaves did not receive formal education and as a result they had little or no sense of geography, making it difficult to determine where to go after escaping. Often bonds between family members and friends were enough to deter slaves from leaving the plantation.

Slaves developed a distinct version of Christianity that offered solace in the face of hardship and hope for liberation from bondage. Identify the statements that describe the religious life of slaves.

They associated with the story of the Jews, and believed that they were chosen people whom God would eventually deliver from bondage. Although it was illegal for slaves to gather without a white person present, every plantation appeared to have its own black preacher who would hold church services exclusively for the slave population.

On the eve of the Civil War, nearly half a million free blacks lived in the United States, the majority of them in the South. Identify the statements that describe the restrictions under which free blacks lived.

They were not allowed to select public officials. They were not allowed to testify in court against whites.

Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery and became the nation's preeminent advocate of racial equality, but despite his efforts, slavery continued to grow throughout his lifetime.

True

In the South it was illegal under any circumstances, even self-defense, for a slave to kill a white person.

True

Most slaves who succeeded in escaping slavery, like Frederick Douglass, came from the Upper South, especially from states that bordered free states like Virginia, Maryland, and Kentucky.

True

Slave owners attempted to prevent slaves from learning about the larger world around them. How did slaves acquire knowledge of current events?

many owners were unaware that slaves created neighborhood networks that transmitted news of local and national importance between plantations.

Identify the outlook on slavery described in this passage.

paternalism

What does this advertisement reveal about how slaves were perceived in the South?

slaves were considered property, and as such they were no different than a piece of furniture or a horse

The most widespread expression of hostility to slavery as an institution was "day-to-day resistance" or "silent sabotage." Identify examples of the forms of "day-to-day resistance" that the slaves performed.

stealing food breaking tools, doing poor work, abusing animals

Identify the following slave rebellions and revolts in the nineteenth-century Atlantic World.

the first of four major slave conspiracies in the beginning of the nineteenth century that was led by a literate blacksmith who planned a large slave rebellion around Richmond -Gabriel's rebellion an uprising that occurred on sugar plantations north of New Orleans. Some 500 men and women marched on New Orleans shouting "Death or Freedom." -Louisiana a celebrated incident in which fifty-three slaves took control of their ship and tried to redirect it to Africa -slave ship Amistad

In the thirty years leading up to the Civil War, fewer and fewer whites viewed slavery as a "necessary evil." Identify how the following arguments were used by southerners to justify to themselves and to the world their use of slavery.

the interpretation of passages in religious texts including the injunction that servants should obey their masters -biblical passages without slavery, many whites believed planters would be unable to cultivate the arts, sciences, and other civilized pursuits -human progress the belief that blacks were innately inferior to whites and unsuited for life in any condition other than slavery -white supremacy