Chapter 12

The controversy at the heart of the Ostend Manifesto centered on the fate of: A. Ostend, Belgium B. Nicaragua C. Cuba D. Louisiana

C

Under the law in the antebellum South, slaves were ________. A. servants B. animals C. property D. indentures

C

The largest group of whites in the South _______. A. owned no slaves B. owned between one and nine slaves each C. owned between ten and ninety-nine slaves each D. owned over one hundred slaves each

A

which of the following was not one of the effects of the cotton boom? A. U.S. trade increased with France and Spain. B. Northern manufacturing expanded. C. The need for slave labor grew. D. Port cities like New Orleans expanded.

A

John C. Calhoun argued for greater rights for southerners with which idea? A. polygenism B. nullification C. concurrent majority D. paternalism

C

Consider filibustering from the point of view of the Cuban or Nicaraguan people. If you lived in Cuba or Nicaragua, would you support filibustering? Why or why not?

As a Cuban or Nicaraguan resident or citizen, one would not support filibustering. Filibustering was an attempt by Americans to expand the American territory or empire by gaining control over other countries. However, much of the support came from the Southern states that supported slavery.

The abolition of the foreign slave trade in 1807 led to _______. A. a dramatic decrease in the price and demand for slaves B. the rise of a thriving domestic slave trade C. a reform movement calling for the complete end to slavery in the United States D. the decline of cotton production

B

Why did southern expansionists conduct filibuster expeditions? A. to gain political advantage B. to annex new slave states C. to prove they could raise an army D. to map unknown territories

B

How did defenders of slavery use the concept of paternalism to structure their ideas?

Defenders of slavery, such as George Fitzhugh, argued that only the clever and the bright could truly benefit within a laissez-faire economy. Premising their argument on the notion that slaves were, by nature, intellectually inferior and less able to compete, such defenders maintained that slaves were better off in the care of paternalistic masters. While northern workers found themselves trapped in wage slavery, they argued, southern slaves' needs—for food, clothing, and shelter, among other things—were met by their masters' paternal benevolence.

Does the history of the cotton kingdom support or undermine the jeffersonian vision

In the middle of the nineteenth century, the United States produced more than 80 % of the world's cotton. Jefferson's vision of the United States was that of a nation where agriculture would be the predominant industry. The "cotton kingdom" certainly supported this vision.

Why did expansionists set their sights on the annexation of Spanish Cuba?

Many slaveholding expansionists believed that the events of the Haitian Revolution could repeat themselves in Cuba, leading to the overthrow of slavery on the island and the creation of an independent black republic. Americans also feared that the British would seize Cuba—which, since Britain had outlawed slavery in its colonies in 1833, would render all slaves on the island free.

What are the major arguments put forward by proslavery advocates? How would you argue against their statements?

Proslavery advocates argued that slavery benefited slaves by taking care of them because they were pretty much like children. I would argue that it was inhuman the way the slaveholders treated the slaves, which was very cruel and harsh. They are people, not property and are not any less of a person just because they are a different skin color

Why did some southerners believe their region was immune to the effects of the market revolution? Why was this thinking misguided?

Some southerners believed that their region's monopoly over the lucrative cotton crop—on which both the larger American and Atlantic markets depended—and their possession of a slave labor force allowed the South to remain independent from the market revolution. However, the very cotton that provided the South with such economic potency also increased its reliance on the larger U.S. and world markets, which supplied—among other things—the food and clothes slaves needed, the furniture and other manufactured goods that defined the southern standard of comfortable living, and the banks from which southerners borrowed needed funds.

How did both slaveholders and slaves use the concept of paternalism to their advantage?

Southern whites often used paternalism to justify the institution of slavery, arguing that slaves, like children, needed the care, feeding, discipline, and moral and religious education that they could provide. Slaves often used this misguided notion to their advantage: By feigning ignorance and playing into slaveholders' paternalistic perceptions of them, slaves found opportunities to resist their condition and gain a degree of freedom and autonomy.

Compare and contrast the steamboats of the antebellum years with technologies today.

Steamboats allowed faster two-way traffic on the nation's new waterways. Within a couple of decades, steamboats were in use on all the major rivers, canals, and the high seas. steamboats completely changed shipping, for the first time in history, mariners didn't have to rely on winds and currents, so they could travel directly to any port at any time. Planters in Missouri, Mississippi, and Louisiana, could easily and cheaply ship cotton, rice, and sugar upriver on the Mississippi rather than send it around Florida and up the Eastern seaboard, as they had previously done.

What strategies did slaves employ to resist, revolt, and sustain their own independent communities and cultures? How did slaves use white southerners' own philosophies—paternalism and Christianity, for example—to their advantage in these efforts?

The major ways in which slaves resisted were through rebellions and their own forms of violence. In addition, they were able to run away from the plantation, which was fraught with its own set of risks.