African American History to 1877 Midterm Study Guide
In the decade before the Civil War, about __________ slaves per decade moved toward the southwest.
150,000
Which of the following is true about the lives of free black people in the Deep South as compared to those in the Upper South?
A sophisticated caste system developed in the Deep South.
In the aftermath of the Civil War, which of the following was the primary target of the wave of violence unleashed by white southerners?
African Americans
During the voyage to the Americas, enslaved Africans were fed __________.
African foods
Which of the following was true of the election of 1824?
All four candidates ran as Republicans.
Which of the following statements is most accurate?
Black and white abolitionists were part of a single movement.
Which of the following was true of the low country by 1740?
Black slaves made up 90 percent of the population in vicinity of Charleston.
After escaping from slavery, Anthony Burns settled in __________.
Boston
Which of the following is true of both the multiregional and out-of-Africa models of the evolution of Homo sapiens?
Both models are supported by genetic evidence
Why did death rates aboard slavers drop after 1750?
By then, ships' surgeons knew more about hygiene and diet.
The United States acquired __________ as a result of the Mexican-American War.
California
The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was championed by __________.
Charles Sumner
The forced removal of __________ from Georgia to Oklahoma is known as the Trail of Tears.
Cherokees
The Ku Klux Klan was originally a club for __________.
Confederate veterans
In __________, all children born to enslaved mothers after March 1, 1784, became free at age 25.
Connecticut
Northern __________ were staunchly opposed to emancipation.
Democrats
In the late twentieth century, Afrocentricists regarded ancient __________ as an essentially black civilization.
Egypt
Prince Hall is best known for his connection to __________.
Freemasonry
Who organized a slave uprising near Richmond, Virginia, in 1800?
Gabriel
Toussaint Louverture led the struggle for __________ independence.
Haitian
How did Thomas Jefferson respond to the poetry of Phillis Wheatley?
He was dismissive of it.
Dred Scott's master took Scott with him to __________.
Illinois
How did the Emancipation Proclamation undermine the Confederate war effort?
It encouraged slaves to run away and resist their masters.
Which of the following was a consequence of trade between West Africa and North Africa?
It facilitated the spread of Islam into West Africa.
Which of the following was closely associated with the Great Awakening?
Jonathan Edwards
The Nubians established an independent kingdom known as:
Kush
How did freedom suits in the early eighteenth century differ from freedom suits in the late eighteenth century?
Late eighteenth-century suits increasingly focused on principles of universal liberty.
The social hierarchy in the Deep South was similar to that in __________.
Latin America
What led George Washington to reconsider his stand on black enlistment?
Lord Dunmore's proclamation
Who was the most important black advocate of migration to Africa in the early nineteenth century?
Paul Cuffe
Who was the first known Portuguese merchant to have formally traded for slaves with the Africans?
Ruy do Siqueira
Which of the following was true of the sale of slaves in the Americas?
Sales often took weeks or even months.
Which of the following was directly linked to the decision to hold a Constitutional Convention in 1787?
Shays's Rebellion
In the late sixteenth century, the Netherlands sought independence from __________.
Spain
Portugal and __________ dominated the Atlantic slave trade during the sixteenth century.
Spain
__________ was the first European nation to actively colonize the Americas.
Spain
In West Africa, __________ conducted the Islamic slave trade.
Sudanese horsemen
Which of the following helps explain why the 32 people of African descent who arrived in Jamestown in the early seventeenth century were not considered slaves?
The English did not have a law establishing slavery.
What was the major cause of the French and Indian War?
The French and British both wanted to control the fur trade in the Ohio Valley area.
Why did the African kingdoms of Guinea and western Central Africa fight fiercely to continue participation in the slave trade?
The kingdoms were economically dependent on the slave trade.
How did a planter decide if a slave had been "seasoned"?
The slave seemed psychologically stable and not suicidal.
How did the New York Liberty Party interpret the Constitution?
They thought that it outlawed slavery throughout the entire country.
Which of the following was true of slave life in the colonial period?
Which of the following was true of slave life in the colonial period?
The rise in militancy in the 1840s can be attributed, in part, to __________.
a growing belief among black abolitionists that white abolitionists preferred talk to action
John Brown's raid was a success, in the sense that it __________.
brought the end of slavery closer
Jupiter Hammon's poetry focused on _______ themes.
religious
How long did a typical crossing from Africa to the Americas take?
two to three months
The sexual relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings began when he was 44 and she was __________.
14
Beginning in the __________, historical records in Virginia suggest a tendency to view African Americans as slaves.
1640s
Antiblack and antiabolitionist violence reached its peak in the __________.
1830s
By the __________, sharecropping was the dominant agricultural system in the South.
1870s
At the end of the war, about __________ black people left with the British as they withdrew from South Carolina and Georgia.
20,000
The Confederates killed __________ black troops in the Fort Pillow Massacre.
300
The 54th Massachusetts Regiment suffered a __________ percent casualty rate during the assault on Fort Wagner.
42
Tensions over the role of women in abolitionism contributed to the splintering of the __________.
American Anti-Slavery Society
Why did property qualifications for voting disproportionately affect African Americans?
As a group, African Americans were poorer than white people.
Africa is bounded by the __________ to the west.
Atlantic Ocean
Which of the following cemented the connection between slavery and race in British North America?
Bacon's Rebellion
Most former slaves became Methodists or __________.
Baptists
Battery Wagner guarded the entrance to the __________ Harbor.
Charleston
Jefferson Davis responded to the __________ by calling for the enslavement of all free black people.
Emancipation Proclamation
Nathanial Bacon was a(n) __________.
English aristocrat who had recently migrated to Virginia
How did Lincoln react to the actions of generals John C. Fremont and David Hunter, who ordered all slaves in their areas freed under the First Confiscation Act?
He immediately countermanded their orders and told them to follow the law.
How did John Newton's views on slavery change over time?
He supported slavery for most of his life but became a leading opponent of the slave trade in his later years.
Which best characterizes Frederick Douglass's reaction to Lincoln's election in 1860?
He thought Lincoln represented a step toward the abolition of slavery.
How did Lewis Douglass characterize the performance of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment at Fort Wagner?
He thought they fought well and demonstrated their bravery.
What was Frederick Douglass's opinion of black churches?
He thought they reinforced segregation and racism.
How did Nzinga Knuwu of the Kongo Kingdom respond to the arrival of the Portuguese in the late fifteenth century?
He welcomed them.
What prompted Harriet Tubman to escape in 1849?
Her master threatened to sell her.
__________ organized the first Black National Convention.
Hezekiah Grice
__________ helped facilitate the expansion of cotton cultivation.
Indian removal under Andrew Jackson
Which of the following statements best characterizes the relationship between African Americans and American Indians during the colonial period?
Indians and African Americans had a complex relationship.
Most of the immigrants who arrived in the United States in the 1840s and 1850s were from _________.
Ireland and Germany
Many of the rioters in New York City in July 1863 were __________.
Irish Catholics
John Locke applied the ideas of __________ to politics.
Isaac Newton
Which of the following best characterizes Frederick Douglass's break with the American American Anti-Slavery Society
It happened gradually over many years
Which of the following was a result of the Three-Fifths Clause in the Constitution?
It increased the South's political power in the House of Representatives.
Which of the following was true of Meroe?
It was Africas first industrial center
Why do we know very little about the underground railroad?
It was a secret and unofficial organization with no centralized command.
Which of the following was true of the sexual exploitation of slave women by white men?
It was common throughout the South.
What was distinctive about term slavery?
It was not for life.
In 1860 the Constitutional Union Party nominated __________ for president.
John Bell
In November 1775 __________ offered to free slaves who joined his army.
Lord Dunmore
Which of the following was true of African-American physicians in the nineteenth century?
Many practiced medicine without a degree.
Elizabeth Freeman is best known for challenging the legality of slavery in __________.
Massachusetts
In which of the following states did black men have voting rights in the antebellum period?
Massachusetts
Public school systems began in _________ and then spread to other northern states.
Massachusetts
Jourdon Anderson's letter to his former master demonstrated which of the following?
Masters and slaves often had very different ideas about their relationship.
How was work divided among slaves during the seasoning process in the West Indies?
Masters generally divided the slaves into several gangs.
Which of the following prevented widespread conversion of slaves to Christianity before the 1730s?
Masters worried that conversion would be seen as a step toward freedom.
Sectional tensions came to a head when __________ applied for statehood in 1819.
Missouri
Under the terms of the Missouri Compromise, __________ entered the Union as a slave state.
Missouri
Which of the following was true of northern white churches in the antebellum period?
Most required black members to sit in separate sections.
Which of the following was true of most slaveholders in the Chesapeake in the eighteenth century?
Most slaveholders owned five or fewer slaves.
Free people of color in __________ called themselves Creoles.
New Orleans
The radical _______ wing of the Liberty Party attracted the support of many black abolitionists.
New York
The British threat to __________ prompted government officials to call on black men for aid.
New York and Philadelphia
Ancient Egyptian society was profoundly shaped by the __________.
Nile River
Which city had the largest black urban population in the first half of the nineteenth century?
Philadelphia
In the early 1400s, the __________ began to explore the coastline of Africa.
Portuguese
How did steam engines affect the lives of slaves?
Railroads opened new territories to cotton production.
Mifflin and Jonathan Gibbs were active in _________.
Republican politics
Most of the delegates elected to constitutional conventions in the southern states in 1867 and 1868 were __________.
Republicans
Who were West Africa's chief trading partners in the trans-Sahara trade before the fifth century ce?
Roman merchants and Berbers
How did France Ellen Watkins respond to John Brown's raid?
She praised Brown's actions
Which of the following was stipulated by slave codes passed in the Chesapeake between 1660 and 1710?
Slaves could not marry.
Which of the following was true of slavery in West Africa?
Some slaves owned property and held positions of power.
Which of the following was the largest of the empires in western Sudan?
Songhai
Black delegates were a majority in which state's constitutional convention?
South Carolina
In the aftermath of the Civil War, only _____________ passed a law guaranteeing African Americans access to public facilities.
South Carolina
The Rollin sisters played an important role in the politics of which state?
South Carolina
As a consequence of the 1763 peace treaties that ended the French and Indian War, __________.
Spain took control of French Louisiana
At the beginning of the war, what message did General George B. McClellan have for Virginia slaveholders?
The Union would not interfere with their slaves.
Which of the following best characterizes the revolution that took place in the Chesapeake between 1640 and 1700?
The economy became dependent on black slave labor.
How is the Port Royal experiment in land distribution an example of the failures of Reconstruction?
The land soon reverted to private white ownership.
Why did Richard Allen and others end their association with St. George's Church?
The white congregation discriminated against them.
What limitation did black people encounter after the Revolution?
They faced economic difficulties and barriers to training and skilled job entry.
How did skilled slaves differ from field slaves?
They had more opportunities to leave the plantation.
How did free African Americans in the North respond to the outbreak of war?
They offered their service to the Union.
How did black women participate in the political arena in 1867?
They participated in meetings and organizing rallies.
How did the men of the 54th Massachusetts protest race discrimination?
They said they would accept no pay unless it was equal to white men's pay.
How did free black people in the North respond to Lincoln's initial plans to deal with the issue of slavery?
They thought the plans were catastrophic.
Which is true of African Americans living in the Upper South?
They were assumed to be slaves unless they could prove otherwise.
Which of the following was true of the northern black elite in the antebellum period?
They were often professionals who served black communities.
How did mutual aid societies evolve over time?
They were similar to insurance companies in providing death and sick benefits.
The Northwest Ordinance was based on a proposal authored by __________.
Thomas Jefferson
Why did Margaret Garner kill her daughter?
To prevent her from being returned to slavery
Hiram Revels was elected __________ in Mississippi.
U.S. senator
Which historian argued in the 1910s that slavery was a generally benign institution in which slaveholders cared for happy slaves?
Ulrich B. Phillips
By 1875, white Democrats had regained authority in __________.
Virginia
The major early roots of African-American culture lay in the civilizations that emerged in:
West Africa
Egyptian religion was __________.
a complex form of polytheism
Which of the following helps explain why slavery was less extensive in the northern colonies than the southern colonies?
a cooler climate in the North
The "scramble" was __________.
a particularly horrible form of selling slaves
Andrew Johnson was __________.
a self-made man
Overall, roughly __________ of enslaved Africans died during the Middle Passage or during "seasoning" on a Caribbean island.
a third
The Declaration of Independence __________.
accused the British of fomenting slave uprisings
Free black communities in the early nineteenth century were characterized by __________.
active church congregations
The 1862 Morrill Land-Grant Act provided funds for __________.
agricultural and mechanical colleges
Black politicians pushed for laws to protect the interests of __________.
agricultural laborers and small farmers
The Enlightenment, the Great Awakening, and an emerging market economy all contributed to __________.
an increasing willingness of some white people to contemplate emancipation
At what age did slave children begin to perform adult fieldwork?
between 8 and 12
Almost all leading _______ abolitionists were ministers.
black
The first black schools were founded by __________.
black mutual aid societies and churches
John Adams believed that __________.
black people were not entitled to the same rights as white people
Once in office, Andrew Johnson __________.
blocked efforts to distribute land to freedmen
Solomon Northup was _______.
born free in New York
James Forten rose to prominence as a _________.
businessman
Many captive Africans believed that the Europeans they encountered on the West African coast were __________.
cannibals
A group of slaves who were chained together for transport or sale was known as a __________.
coffle
Which of the following helped tie the empire of Mali together?
commerce
After the market revolution, the northern economy was based, to a significant degree on __________.
commercial farming
In early 1862, Lincoln sought to convince leaders in the border states to accept __________.
compensated emancipation
Historian Stanley M. Elkins compared slaves to __________.
concentration camp prisoners
Increased __________ cultivation in the late eighteenth century strengthened slavery in the United States.
cotton
The 1865 southern constitutional conventions __________.
denied black people political and civil rights
In the 1840s, the "Old Organization" called for ________.
disunion
According to Al Bakri, the city of Ghana was:
divided into two towns
Crispus Attucks was killed __________.
during the Boston Massacre
Benjamin Lay was a(n) __________.
early opponent of slavery
Charlotte E. Ray was the first African-American woman to __________.
earn a law degree
Former slaves understood that __________ was inseparable from freedom.
education
Free black people in the South had to ___________.
enroll for military labor
Brer Rabbit represented __________.
enslaved African Americans
Maroon communities were made up of __________.
escaped slaves
For most white southerners, the only acceptable political system was one that __________.
excluded black people
Republican politicians saw __________ as the key to economic growth and prosperity.
expansion of the railroad network
In 1864, the Confederacy __________.
faced almost certain defeat
Up until 1848, public school education in the Old Northwest was _______.
for white children only
Before the late eighteenth century, slaves' goal in resisting was to _________.
force concessions from masters
During the American Revolution, African Americans __________.
fought on both sides
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Europeans usually acquired African slaves __________.
from African traders
In 1867, black men in Charleston, South Carolina, staged a "sit-in" to __________.
gain the right to sit at a lunch counter
As a result of the Revolutionary War, slaves in South Carolina and Georgia
gained greater autonomy
The Articles of Confederation __________.
gave the states considerable autonomy
Under American control, slavery in Louisiana __________.
grew harsher
Which of the following may help explain increases in the prevalence of single-parent black families in the Northeast during the antebellum period?
high unemployment rates among black men
The Sahel is a(n):
huge grassland
Which of the following was a key to making industrialization in the United States possible?
improved transportation
Where was rice cultivation important?
in the low country of South Carolina and Georgia
In September 1862, the Louisiana Native Guards __________.
joined the Union side
Most slave uprisings aboard slavers took place __________.
just as the ship was getting ready to leave the African coast
Pre-Civil War slave codes demonstrated that white people __________.
knew that slaves were capable of learning
As a group, African Americans suffered from __________.
lactose intolerance
Black Californians generally __________.
lived in multicultural communities
Evidence indicates that members of the Homo habilis species probably:
lived in small bands
Stephen Smith and William Whipper first grew wealthy in the __________ industry.
lumber
The committee of slaves from Boston who petitioned the Massachusetts General Court in April 1773 __________.
made arguments based on natural rights
The sickle-cell blood trait protected African-American slaves from
malaria
Benjamin Banneker's abilities as a __________ led to employment with the federal government.
mathematician
Organized slave escapes along predetermined routes became common after the _______.
mid-1830s
Miscegenation resulted in a(n) __________.
mixed-race population
Southern slaves toiling in the fields made it possible for __________.
more southern white men to join the army
Black churches were __________.
often used as schools
The Sons of Liberty took a leading role in __________.
opposition to the Tea Act
In the aftermath of the war, the Virginia legislature ___________.
ordered masters to free slaves who had fought on the Patriot side
From 1863 to 1865, African American soldiers __________.
participated in almost every battle
White southerners responded to events in Haiti by __________.
placing greater restrictions on black people
The bronze sculptures of Benin had __________ functions.
political
Slaves' diets in the period between 1820 and 1860 were __________.
poor by today's standards
The U.S. Constitution __________.
prevented Congress from abolishing the slave trade until 1808
The Fifteenth Amendment __________.
protected the voting rights of black men
Lincoln was determined to avoid __________.
provoking Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri into leaving the Union
The Civil Rights Act of 1875 banned discrimination in __________.
public hotels
A __________ first used the term "Jim Crow" to describe segregated facilities.
railroad
The Stamp Act, the Sugar Act, and the Townshend Acts were all designed to _________.
raise revenue
Eli Whitney's cotton gin made it easier to __________.
remove seeds from cotton bolls
The Atlantic slave trade __________.
required enormous amounts of capital from those involved
By the mid-1870s, many northern white Republicans had lost interest in __________.
rights for black people
Edmonia Lewis was best known for her __________.
sculptures
Radical Republicans focused on __________.
securing voting rights for black men
Which of the following helps explain the growth of African-American institutions in the antebellum period?
segregation and racial exclusion
Griots were:
self-employed poets
As soon as slavery ended, many ex-slaves __________.
set out to find family members who had been sold
The Dutch writers who described Benin City were impressed by the city's:
sheer size
Which of the following was a major component of the trans-Saharan trade?
slaves
Black churches ________.
sometimes served as meeting places for antislavery organizations
born free in New York
southern black people
Slave clothing was generally __________.
sparse, as they generally received clothing from the master only twice a year
The Igbo people lived in a __________.
stateless society
The French Revolution __________.
strengthened proslavery sentiment in the United States
During Reconstruction, public schools in the South were __________.
strictly segregated
By __________, Lincoln had decided that emancipation was necessary if the Union was to win the war.
summer 1862
Lydia Maria Child's was meant to __________.
teach freedmen about famous African Americans
The first draft of the Declaration of Independence denounced __________.
the Atlantic slave trade
Which of the following had the smallest free black population in 1860?
the Deep South
The American antislavery movement began with __________.
the Quakers
Which of the following laws was passed first?
the Sugar Act
Frederick Douglass believed that African Americans stood the best chance of succeeding in __________.
the United States
Once at sea, slave ships travelled to the Canary Islands and from there to __________.
the West Indies
Lincoln's concerns about __________ shaped his initial policies toward runaway slaves.
the border states
Which of the following played the largest role in the decline of Kush?
the decline of Rome
The Hamburg Massacre and Ellenton Riot represented ___________
the effort of South Carolina Democrats to imitate the shotgun policy
The decline of slavery in the Chesapeake contributed to __________.
the expansion of the domestic slave trade
General Howard's Circular 13 was issued in response to ________.
the freedmen's desire for land
What were the goals of the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS)?
the immediate end to slavery, with no compensation for owners
Former slaves soon discovered that the acquisition of land depended on __________.
the intervention of the federal government.
Lincoln believed that ________ was more important than any other war objective.
the preservation of the Union
Which of the following may have originated in Nubia and then spread to Egypt:
the production of grain and the concept of monarchy
Most white southerners believed that slaves would not work unless __________.
they faced the threat of punishment
Which northeastern states tended to be the most aggressive in disfranchising black men?
those with larger African-American populations
Most of the land set aside by the Southern Homestead Act was eventually acquired by __________.
timber companies
What was the purpose of the Great Postal Campaign?
to influence white southerners
What was the main reason colonial assemblies banned interracial marriages?
to keep white women from having mixed-race children
Why did slave traders seek to separate enslaved Africans who spoke the same language?
to lessen the possibility of shipboard conspiracies
What was the objective of the Proclamation Line of 1763?
to limit colonial settlement in the West
What was the motive behind the establishment of Jamestown?
to make a profit
Why did sailors on slavers string up nets on the sides of the ship?
to prevent slaves from jumping overboard
Aside from financial reasons, why did some black people become slaveholders?
to protect their families from sale
Which of the following turned Jamestown into a profitable enterprise?
tobacco cultivation
Indentured servants who worked on Chesapeake tobacco plantations sold their freedom for a number of years in exchange for __________.
transportation to North America
Quite often, the heroes of African-American folktales were __________.
trickster animals
According to the standard formula, a slave ship could hold __________ slaves per ton.
two
The Freedmen's Bureau was __________.
understaffed and underfunded
Most West Africans lived in:
villages
In the antebellum period most white northerners __________.
wanted nothing to do with black people and held racist ideas similar to those of southerners
The availability of large numbers of slaves in West Africa was a result of __________.
wars
Anthony Johnson __________.
was a black man who became a planter and slave owner
John Wilson Buckner __________.
was a free black that fought for the Confederacy
Mali was __________ than Ghana.
wealthier
Most northern white people
were against the expansion of slavery
Slave marriages _________.
were sometimes arranged by masters
In Frederick Douglass's view, masters _______.
whipped their slaves for almost any reason
The Enforcement Acts were passed in direct response to __________.
white violence against African Americans and white Republicans
During Reconstruction, most disagreements within the Republican Party centered on _________.
who should run for office
How did northerners respond to the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation?
with little enthusiasm
The Islamic slave trade in West Africa dealt mostly in __________.
women and children
Sojourner Truth was a champion of abolition and __________.
women's rights
