Chapter 11: The Peculiar Institution Has all the right answers

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 accused of supposedly organizing a rebellion in South Carolina but was caught before it came to fruition. -Denmark Vesey's conspiracy This was the last large-scale slave rebellion in the South. -Nat Turner's Rebellion 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

Identify the statements that describe the Old South.

correct: -In 1860, the South produced less than 10 percent of the nation's manufactured goods. -Southern railroads tended to be short lines designed to bring cotton to ports rather than integrate the South into a larger national network.

An estimated 75 percent of enslaved women and 90 percent of enslaved men worked in the fields of the American South. The organization of their labor varied, but two main organizations were the task system and the gang system. Match each statement below to the type of labor organization it describes.

gang labor: -This system of field work was known to be more violent than the other. -Groups of slaves were supervised as they did their work. -common on plantations in southern Louisiana where sugarcane was cultivated task labor: -common on plantations producing rice along the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia -Slaves were given a series of daily jobs to be done at their own pace.

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

the Mississippi River

Identify the statements that describe the Underground Railroad.

correct: -Harriet Tubman was the most famous "conductor" on the Underground Railroad. -"Stations" on the Underground Railroad were hideouts maintained by abolitionists to help fugitive slaves. -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.

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.

correct: -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. -Slave religion was a mix of African tradition and Christian beliefs practiced for the most part in secret.

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

correct: -At the point of emancipation in Brazil, more than half of the slave population had already gained its freedom, whereas only 10 percent of slaves in the United States had gained its freedom by emancipation. -In the American South, states set limits on voluntary manumission, requiring such acts be approved by the legislature.

Identify the justifications used by white Americans for the practice of slavery.

correct: -Christianity -Slavery is the best condition for all labor -blatant racism

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

correct: -Douglass put forward a powerful critique of slavery by pointing out that the practice of slavery went against America's professed value of liberty. -Douglass said that the enslaved had a better understanding of American values in their quest for freedom than slaveowners in their attempts to maintain slavery.

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

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

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

true

Read the following primary source excerpt titled "Slavery and the Bible" (1850) from an essay in the influential southern magazine De Bow's Review. Identify the passage(s) in which the author argues that the Bible does not in any place expressly denounce slavery.

"yet no one of them condemns it in the slightest degree. Would this have been the case had it been wrong in itself? Would not some of the host of sacred writers have spoken of this alleged crime, in such terms as to show, in a manner not to be misunderstood, that God wished all men to be equal?" "We find, that both the Old and New Testaments speak of slavery—that they do not condemn the relation, but, on the contrary, expressly allow it or create it"

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

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

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.

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

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

Harriet Tubman: -It is estimated that she saved seventy-five men, women, and children from slavery. Henry Brown: -He packed himself into a crate and had it shipped from Richmond to Philadelphia. William and Ellen Craft: -She impersonated a sickly owner traveling with her slave.

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

a ship seized by 135 slaves being transported from Norfolk to New Orleans; they changed its course to the British Bahamas where they were given refuge -slave ship Creole 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 a celebrated incident in which fifty-three slaves took control of their ship and tried to redirect it to Africa -slave ship Amistad 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

After abolition in the North, slavery had become the "peculiar institution" of the South. Identify the statements that describe this "peculiar institution" in the antebellum American South.

correct: -In the South as a whole, slaves made up one-third of the total population, and in the cotton-producing states of the Lower South, around half. -The Old South was the largest and most powerful slave-holding society in the modern world. -The slave economy in the South revolved around the region's monopoly on cotton, which was referred to as "white gold."

Identify the statements that describe the Second Middle Passage.

correct: -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. -Virginia played a key role in the Second Middle Passage.

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

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

Gender roles for enslaved men and women differed markedly from those of free, white men and women. Identify the following statements that correctly describe how the nineteenth-century's "cult of domesticity" did not apply to slave women.

correct: -Since black men could not provide economically for their families, black women could not perform the complementary duties of homemaking. -Slave women were expected to work in the fields with men.

What does it reveal about the slave population in 1860?

correct: -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.

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

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

Review the following video with author Eric Foner titled, "The Difference in American Slavery." Then identify which of the following statements are true about what set the American practice of slavery apart from other slave-keeping practices, both ancient and modern.

correct: -Slavery in the American South was unique in that it was tied to large-scale agricultural output. -Slavery in the American South was unique in that the differentiating factor between free and enslaved people was physical: skin color.

Identify the statements that describe the southern planter class.

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

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

correct: -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.

What does it [the free black population table] reveal about the free black population?

correct: -The largest number of free blacks remained in the South. -The entire black population in the North was free.

The table on the left illustrates how many slaves there were in the antebellum South. The table on the right indicates not population, but the relative proportions of yeoman farmers who owned fewer than twenty slaves per family, and the elite planters who owned more than 100. Which of the following conclusions can be drawn from the information provided by these tables?

correct: -The members of the elite planter class were outnumbered by their slaves on the plantation as well as in society at large. -In the year 1850, there were almost ten times as many slaves in the South as there were slaveholders. -The elite planter class was a small proportion of antebellum society.

Identify the obstacles faced by slaves attempting to escape.

correct: -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.

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.

correct: -They could not strike a white person, even in self-defense. -They were prohibited from owning dogs, firearms, or liquor. -They were not allowed to testify in court against whites.

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

correct: -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.

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.

correct: -breaking tools, doing poor work, abusing animals -leaving gates open and removing rails from fences

According to the map below, in which of the following regions were slave populations primarily concentrated around 1860?

correct: -the South Carolina coast -along the Mississippi River

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.

correct: -the threat of sale -whipping slaves and other physical punishments -prohibiting relations between house servants and field hands to prevent collaboration against the master

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

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 their slaves' health care and shelter.

false

Slaveowners 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

"The master," writes a planter, "as the head of the system, has the right to the obedience and labor of the slave, but the slave has also the rights in the master; the right of protection, the right of counsel and guidance, the right of subsistence, the right of care and attention in sickness and old age." Identify the outlook on slavery described in this passage.

paternalism

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 fields with the men, not take care of the home life

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

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

The culture of slavery in the antebellum South was different from the culture of slavery in Brazil and the West Indies. Determine whether the statements below better describe antebellum slave culture in the United States or the patterns of slave-keeping in South America and the Caribbean.

the antebellum South -There were few free blacks in this society; those who were free had few rights. -Slave rebellions were fairly rare. -Enslaved persons in this society had better living conditions and longer life expectancies. Brazil or the West Indies: -Plantation owners in this society would occasionally free their slaves as reward for good work or in honor of rites of passage like marriage. -Slave rebellions were common and large-scale. -Plantation owners tended not to live on their plantations.

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 passage the view of slavery as necessary for human progress, as the ancient republics of great Europe were also built on the institution of slavery -classical Greece and Rome the belief that blacks were innately inferior to whites and unsuited for life in any condition other than slavery -white supremacy

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