Learning Curve Chapter 12
How did the domestic slave trade affect slave marriages? A. It destroyed about one in every four slave marriages. B. Slaves did not get married, in fear that they would be separated from their spouse. C. By law, married slaves could only be sold together. D. Married slaves were not sold in the domestic slave trade.
A
How did wealthy planters influence tax policies in southern states? A. They ensured that slave property was exempt from taxation. B. They introduced subsidies for cotton growers. C. They maintained a regressive tax structure that taxed higher incomes less. D. They reduced property taxes for owners of large amounts of land.
A
In which region of the antebellum South was slave ownership likely to be lowest? A. Hilly western North Carolina B. Central Georgia and Alabama C. The lower Mississippi Valley D. Tidewater South Carolina
A
What group constituted the majority of the state legislature in Alabama in the 1840s? A. Mid-level planters B. The planter elite C. Propertyless whites D. Yeomen farmers
A
What was a slave owner's most effective tool of discipline? A. The threat of sale B. Lock-up C. The overseer D. The whip
A
Where did the majority of rice plantation owners live? A. South Carolina B. Maryland C. Virginia D. Mississippi
A
Which statement characterizes the domestic slave trade in the early 1800s? A. It brought black slaves to the Lower South. B. It was a minor factor in the expansion of slavery. C. It led to an improvement in the lives of African American slaves. D. It resulted in the export of blacks back to Africa.
A
Which statement explains the fact the American South in 1860 had a higher per capita income than the populations of France or Germany? A. Southern per capita income was for whites only and excluded the slave population. B. Southern promoters were correct, and cotton was the king of all crops. C. The economies of France and Germany were weakened by war at the time. D. Much of the northern economic activity was counted in southern per capita earnings.
A
Why did South Carolina rice planters begin to sell some of their slaves and work the others harder in the 1820s? A. The competition from cheap Asian rice cut into their profit margins. B. European demand for rice was growing, and they wanted to capture the market. C. The new consumer goods of northeastern manufactures lured them into more lavish lifestyles. D. They began to spend more money on political campaigns in Washington, D.C.
A
Why did the planter elite of the South face political challenges in the 1840s and 1850s? A. New state constitutions opened the franchise, making it more difficult for them to dominate government. B. A new entrepreneurial class emerged to challenge the old elites for power. C. Their reluctance to invest in internal improvements discredited them. D. Other whites increasingly viewed slave owning as morally reprehensible.
A
Why was cotton such a hard crop for slaves? A. Cotton has a long growing season. B. The cotton plant is thorny and likely to produce a rash. C. It grew only in extremely hot weather. D. Separating the fiber from the cottonseed was slow and arduous work.
A
Why were factories in the South primarily in the Chesapeake region? A. The region had a more diverse economy and a surplus of bound workers. B. They were closer to the consumer markets of Atlantic seaboard cities like New York and Philadelphia. C. The region's state laws were the least restrictive against industry. D. Mechanics in the antebellum years did not want to live in the South.
A
Upper-class white southerners who owned the most wealth in the South were known as A. the yeomen. B. the plantation aristocracy. C. middle-class entrepreneurs. D. propertyless whites.
B
What was the dominant pattern of marriage relationships among the smallholding yeomen of the antebellum South? A. Egalitarian based on shared ownership of property B. Patriarchal C. Matriarchal D. Shaped by the ideology of companionate marriage
B
Which denomination was most likely to supply ministers who traveled south as missionaries to convert African American slaves during the first decades of the nineteenth century? A. Congregationalists B. Methodists C. Episcopalians D. Catholics
B
Who stood at the apex of the plantation aristocracy? A. Tobacco planters B. Rice planters C. Cotton growers of the Lower South D. Wheat farmers
B
Why did American settlers in Texas split into two groups in the 1830s? A. Disagreement between those who did and did not want to be annexed by the United States B. Divisions over how to respond to changes in Mexico's central government C. As a result of class differences between planters and yeomen farmers D. Disagreement over whether or not to accept slavery
B
Why did landless white workers in the South receive so little respect? A. They did not work very hard. B. They performed hard labor, which was deemed fit only for slaves. C. They were extremely uneducated. D. They tended to mingle with poor Irish immigrants.
B
How did Alabama Democrats try to gain the favor of voters in the antebellum decades? A. They called for secession. B. They promised abolition. C. They supported low taxes. D. They held rallies against immigrants.
C
In the decades before the Civil War, how did African American slaves in the southern Methodist Church approach the church's ban on profane dancing? A. They refrained from dance entirely. B. They danced only at night, when no one could see. C. They practiced the ring shout. D. They danced after church, outside.
C
In the early 1800s, what did the growing cities of the South all have in common? A. They tended to be in the region's coolest areas. B. They tended to be state capitals. C. They tended to be around the periphery of the South. D. They tended to have large free black populations.
C
In the years leading up to the Civil War, what purpose did African American naming patterns try to serve? A. To break racial stereotypes B. To endear newborn slaves to the planter C. To bolster kinship ties D. To honor the founding fathers
C
What distinguished the Alabama Constitution of 1819? A. It called for gradual manumission of slaves. B. It granted property-owning women the right to vote. C. It provided for a secret ballot rather than voice-voting. D. It restricted the right to vote to larger property owners.
C
What trend characterized the Lower South in the early 1800s? A. A mania for speculation in northern industry B. The desire to confine slavery to the Old South C. High geographical mobility D. Reliance on European immigration to expand the population
C
What was a reason that President Martin Van Buren refused to annex Texas? A. Congress declared that it would not admit a slave state. B. He opposed the addition of a slave state. C. He expected northern opposition to adding a slave state. D. He wanted Texans to first adopt slavery.
C
Which characteristic made the state of Massachusetts unique for free blacks? A. They could work in the Postal Service. B. They could vote. C. They could testify in court against whites. D. They could attend public schools.
C
Which of the following describes a change that took place between 1790 and 1860? A. Virginia lost its appeal for slave-owning planters. B. Kentucky became the most popular destination for planters in the South. C. The state of New York abolished slavery. D. Southwestern Georgia proved unsuitable for slave-operated plantations.
C
Which of the following regions had the highest concentration of slaves in the United States by 1860? A. Missouri B. Florida C. The Mississippi River Valley D. Western Virginia
C
Why did Protestants ministers who preached to black slaves in the antebellum years avoid biblical passages that encouraged unthinking obedience to authority? A. They were told by planters to leave slave discipline to them and their overseers. B. They feared that if they asked slaves to obey they might provoke a revolt. C. They did not want to repel their black audiences. D. They preached in opposition to slavery, not in defense of it.
C
Why did the Texas war party succeed with its call for a rebellion in 1835? A. Mexico had declared war on the United States. B. The Mexican revolution made life in that nation unbearable. C. The new Mexican president nullified the Texans' exemption from the ban on slavery. D. General Santa Anna had captured and imprisoned rebel leader Sam Houston.
C
How did the Chesapeake region contribute to the domestic slave trade? A. By providing Native American slaves to the Cotton South B. By buying slaves from the Cotton South C. By encouraging European immigrants to migrate to the Cotton South D. By selling surplus African American slaves to the Cotton South
D
Which free black headed the African Methodist Episcopal Church? A. Benjamin Banneker B. Joshua Johnston C. Paul Cuffee D. Richard Allen
D
Which prejudice did American journalists build upon when they turned the battle of the Alamo into a romantic challenge for American adventurers? A. White supremacy B. Anti-royalty C. Nativism D. Anti-Catholicism
D
Why did planter James Henry Hammond tell his poor white neighbors that "every freeman is an aristocrat"? A. Even if they were poor, they still had their land. B. Even if they were poor, they were still Americans. C. Even poor southerners at least owned slaves. D. Even poor whites enjoyed the privilege of white supremacy.
D
Why did slaves in the Upper South fear family separation? A. Slaves were being sold rapidly to foreign buyers. B. Virtually every planter in the Chesapeake was also a trader. C. Planters liked to sell their slaves and buy them back in speculative schemes. D. Slaves could be sold at any time.
D
Why did southern defenders such as the future vice president of the Confederacy Alexander Stephens describe the institution of slavery as a "positive good"? A. It stimulated the northern textile economy. B. It helped clothe northern middle-class Americans. C. It was the only way the southern soil could be cultivated. D. It provided tutelage for inferior African Americans.
D
