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CHAPTER 11
The South, Slavery, and King Cotton, 1800–1860
TRUE/FALSE
1. The Old South was socially, culturally, and economically the most unified region of the United States.
2. Cotton had always been a major cash crop of the United States, both before and after independence.
3. The number of enslaved African Americans in the Border South greatly decreased by 1860
because cotton could not thrive there.
4. Violence, alcohol, and gambling, as well as relocation, characterized the cotton frontier.
5. The large-scale slaveholding planter class made up only a very small portion of the overall
southern society.
6. A black overseer on a plantation was known as a driver.
7. With how numerous and entrenched plantations were in the southern economy, even most
“poor whites” owned plantations in the South.
8. The slave population in the South shrank between 1790 and 1830 due to rising abolitionist
sentiments and the end of the slave trade.
9. Free blacks were treated equally as whites throughout the South except for in Alabama.
10. Though rare, there were black slave owners in the South.
11. Celia was an example of a slave who eventually escaped slavery and lived a prosperous life.
12. Though southern whites tended to be Catholic, slaves tended to join evangelical sects because
the rigid hierarchy of Catholicism mirrored the hierarchy of southern society.
13. Southerners had always used religion as a means of defending slavery.
14. Denmark Vesey planned an unsuccessful rebellion that nevertheless led state officials to
place additional restrictions on the mobility of free blacks and black religious gatherings.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which of the following statements accurately describes the relationship between the North
and South during the first half of the nineteenth century?
a.
The expansion of the cotton crop in the South increasingly divided the North and South because
northern bankers and industry owners failed to reap any of the profits.
b.
The agricultural focus of the South, which included the cotton crop, greatly slowed the expansion
of global capitalism, which angered northern business titans.
c.
The textile mills of New England and Great Britain purchased southern-grown cotton, and it
became the central raw material driving the industrial revolution.
d.
The North and South grew increasingly similar in that both had a balance between agriculture and
industry and experienced the acceleration of the spread of slavery as a result.
e.
Southerners in many ways felt indebted to northerners because although southern cotton helped in
terms of clothing, northern rice and sugars had long sustained them in terms of food.
2. The growth and development of industry in the South
a.
consistently lagged behind southern agricultural interests.
b.
had a greater impact on the southern economy than agriculture.
c.
resulted in a higher literacy rate in the South than in the North.
d.
turned the North into a colonial dependency of the more developed South.
e.
was nonexistent before the start of the Civil War.
3. Which of the following was a characteristic of the South that contributed to its distinctiveness
during the first half of the eighteenth century?
a.
the ownership of slaves by the majority of southern whites
b.
its reliance on factories and banking
c.
its biracial population and culture
d.
the high proportion of immigrants that comprised the overall southern population
e.
its accessible public school system
4. What ideas underpinned the usage of the term “peculiar institution”?
a.
Northerners coined the term to emphasize the violence and discrimination inherent in slavery and
lament its having become a formal institution.
b.
Southerners used the term to refer to capitalism and to portray it as a bizarre system unique to the
North and in which they themselves played no part.
c.
Women activists of the time used the term to refer to the system of marriage and to convey that
although it was a fundamental social structure, it was curious in its treatment of women.
d.
The word “peculiar” implied that race-based slavery was unique to the South—a more positive
sentiment that appealed to southern identity—and helped avoid the charged word “slavery.”
e.
Northerners used the term to paint urban slavery in a negative light because they believed it was
odd that urban slaves faced worse conditions than slaves on farms.
5. As a result of the South’s emphasis on agriculture, the population of the South
a.
saw very little immigration and was primarily native-born.
b.
steadily declined as people moved north to take jobs in factories.
c.
exploded as farming families tended to have large numbers of children.
d.
benefited from having all the main shipping routes to Europe in the South.
e.
declined for whites, but was offset by an increase in slave births.
6. Which of the following was a central part of the mythic version of the Old South that emerged
among and tended to be believed by white southerners?
a.
The quality of life in the North far exceeded that in the South, so southerners worked quickly to
copy the North’s advancement and reclaim their legacy as the superior region.
b.
Slavery was an inhumane practice in every way but a necessary evil for the sake of growing the
economy and preventing terrible food shortages.
c.
Although greedy bankers dominated the South, they ultimately made the lives of agricultural
workers better due to their investments in infrastructure.
d.
The South was morally superior to the North, partly because planters were kinder toward slaves
than factory owners toward wage laborers.
e.
One southerner could defeat ten northerners in combat due to southerners’ emphasis on military
prowess and superior genetic makeup.
7. What is the significance of the idea of many Souths?
a.
The fact that there were three subsections of the South that experienced uniform economic
development contributed to the cohesion of the South.
b.
The contradictions of the South gave rise to competing myths, alternately proud and condemning,
based on half-truths and prejudices that still persist today.
c.
Entrepreneurs capitalized on public fascination with the South by printing many scandalous and
misleading accounts of the region, all of which are long lost today.
d.
The South has many discernable historical eras, although throughout each of them a single southern
identity and culture remained.
e.
Countries that shared a warm southern climate tended to independently adopt similar cultural and
economic practices.
8. By 1860, slavery was MOST concentrated
a.
in the Lower South.
d.
in Texas and Louisiana.
b.
in the Carolinas.
e.
equally through the South.
c.
in the Upper South.
9. How did the states of the Upper South differ from those of the Lower South?
a.
Farmers in the Upper South rarely grew crops for household use and mainly exported them for
profit.
b.
Slave owners had invested more heavily in slavery in the Upper South but treated their slaves
better.
c.
The soil and climate in the Upper South were better suited to the plantation crops of cotton and
tobacco.
d.
The Upper South had more-varied agricultural economies and had large areas without slavery.
e.
Slavery had almost disappeared in the Upper South and free blacks enjoyed the right to vote.
10. By the early nineteenth century, the South’s sugar sector was
a.
the single biggest cash crop from the South thanks to slavery.
b.
widespread because it required the use of little machinery.
c.
second only to rice production in economic significance.
d.
the number-one cash crop in the Carolinas due to the climate there.
e.
largely based just in Louisiana because it was so expensive to produce.
11. The focus on cotton and other cash crops has overshadowed the reality that
a.
southern farmers also contributed food to their own tables through livestock.
b.
the South became totally dependent on the West for its food.
c.
the South relied on Britain for its manufactured goods.
d.
the North had to use imported cotton from overseas for its textile manufacturers.
e.
most white southerners lived and worked in cities.
12. What was the MOST profitable form of agriculture in the South prior to the rise of cotton?
a.
swine
d.
tobacco
b.
rice
e.
sugar
c.
indigo
13. What developments led to the rise of the Cotton Kingdom during the first half of the nineteenth century?
a.
the fact that the American South was the only region in the world with the climate to cultivate
cotton and the economic downturn in the rest of the world
b.
the refusal of Americans to create large companies and the value Americans placed on plantations
as the country’s main commercial institution
c.
the growth of British textile mills due to advancements in mechanical production and American Eli
Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin
d.
a close trade partnership between the American South and India and the American South’s resulting
adoption of India’s handloom technologies
e.
the decline of New York City as an industrial trade center and the rise of southern cities that would
temporarily surpass it in importance
14. In the first half of the nineteenth century, which of the following states was in the region
considered the Old Southwest?
a.
Virginia
d.
Kentucky
b.
North Carolina
e.
South Carolina
c.
Mississippi
15. The Old Southwest attracted thousands of settlers in the 1820s and 1830s with its low land
prices and suitability for cotton production. Many of the settlers migrated from
a.
Massachusetts to escape the dreary textile mills and the pollution of industrialization.
b.
Virginia and the Carolinas due to the exhaustion of the land from years of tobacco cultivation.
c.
Kentucky to escape the system of slavery and start anew as free blacks.
d.
Ohio and Pennsylvania as a downturn in steel manufacturing meant a massive loss of jobs.
e.
Tennessee to start large families on enormous tracts of land they had been granted for free.
16. Life in the Old Southwest was characterized by
a.
a lack of women.
d.
pacifism.
b.
pleasant working conditions.
e.
opposition to slavery.
c.
prohibition of alcohol.
17. Slaves forced to migrate to the Old Southwest were particularly despondent over the
a.
need to learn new, difficult forms of labor, as the area was less inclined toward cotton production.
b.
control that women exerted over the region’s culture and society due to the delayed arrival of men.
c.
absence of alcohol on the frontier and the lack of distractions to offset the horrors of slavery.
d.
urban and industrial nature of the region and, thus, the longer workdays and lack of sunlight.
e.
high possibility of being separated from family and friends during the migration and the breakup of
family ties.
18. The rapid expansion of the cotton belt in the South
a.
reduced the significance of slavery.
b.
spurred a rise in the number of enslaved blacks given their freedom.
c.
ensured that the region became more dependent on enslaved black workers.
d.
increased the responsibilities of field work for the plantation mistress.
e.
eliminated the presence of all other staple crops throughout the region.
19. As southerners moved farther west and south between 1812 and 1860,
a.
cotton production soared.
d.
fewer slaves were needed.
b.
the South became less agricultural.
e.
North–South relations improved.
c.
the South became less distinctive.
20. By 1860, the significance of Britain to the southern economy was based on the fact that
a.
Britain provided most of the slaves to the South.
b.
Britain was the major consumer of southern tobacco.
c.
British consumers sparked the growth of the thriving southern indigo trade.
d.
Britain had pledged itself to protect the institution of slavery.
e.
Britain was a major importer of southern cotton.
21. Of the 8 million people in the South’s white population, how many owned slaves?
a.
nearly all of them, as slavery was such a pervasive part of southern culture
b.
at least three fourths, as property ownership required slave ownership as well
c.
one half, as women were not allowed to own or to give orders to slaves
d.
roughly 400,000 of them, as only a fraction of whites qualified as planters
e.
roughly 1,000, as most whites were uncomfortable with the idea of slavery
22. To be called a “planter,” one had to
a.
own at least twenty slaves.
d.
remain part of the lower farming class.
b.
work alongside slaves.
e.
avoid involvement in politics.
c.
be engaged in the slave trade.
23. Which of the following was one of the MOST common ways southern planters began
their careers?
a.
as overseers
d.
as ship captains in the slave trade
b.
as industrial entrepreneurs in Britain
e.
as students at university
c.
as traders and merchants
24. The frequency of dueling in the South was probably caused by
a.
the certainty that possible outcomes would exclude death.
b.
the lack of social status of the participants.
c.
the legality of dueling in most states.
d.
the wider prevalence of dueling in the rest of the nation.
e.
southerners’ exalted sense of pride.
25. The plantation mistress
a.
usually led a life of idle leisure.
b.
often spoke out to criticize the prevailing social order and racist climate.
c.
often ran the household and dairy in the way her husband ran the plantation business.
d.
was usually college educated at a university for women.
e.
represented the typical southern white woman.
26. Which of the following statements describes how many white planters treated slave women?
a.
White planters avoided sexual relations with slave women because they did not want the financial
burden of children.
b.
White planters treated slave women respectively so as not to upset the plantation mistress.
c.
Only enslaved mulatto women tended to be sexually abused by white planters.
d.
The rape of slave women was a common practice and sometimes led to their giving birth.
e.
White planters forbid slave men from raping slave women because it was against their moral code.
27. On a plantation, the position responsible for managing the agricultural production in every
way
was the
a.
driver.
d.
overseer.
b.
slave.
e.
master.
c.
field hand.
28. The most numerous white southerners were the yeoman farmers and they were
a.
well educated and middle class.
d.
the owners of the most slaves.
b.
poor and illiterate.
e.
universally opposed to slavery.
c.
well educated and urban.
29. Why did southern whites who did not even own slaves support the system of slavery?
a.
They feared the wrath of planters for speaking out against it.
b.
They were too uneducated to notice any kind of moral dilemma.
c.
They still benefited from the social advantage of having a class of people beneath them.
d.
They hoped to gain the favor of the planter class by supporting what planters supported.
e.
They were indifferent to the continuation of slavery and supported it by default.
30. To what does “plain white folk” refer?
a.
an attempt by the planter class to portray themselves as humble, God-fearing Christians
b.
the poorest class of whites who had nothing but their skin color to set them apart from slaves
c.
the middling, yeoman farmers who were often illiterate and scraped by
d.
blacks who bought slaves and began their own plantations
e.
European immigrants who landed in the South and were simpler than native-born whites
31. Poor whites were often employed as
a.
day laborers.
d.
teachers.
b.
blacksmiths and other skilled laborers.
e.
indentured servants.
c.
slave drivers.
32. Approximately how many slaves lived in the South in 1860?
a.
30,000
d.
4 million
b.
100,000
e.
10 million
c.
1 million
33. The ultimate purpose of the slave codes was to
a.
teach slaves to obey by settling harsh punishments for disobedience.
b.
prevent runaways and rebellions by limiting the way slave owners could treat slaves.
c.
establish prices for slaves at markets throughout the nation.
d.
define how much mixed blood a mulatto could have to be classified as predominantly white or
black.
e.
prohibit the mulatto children of planters the ability to inherit from their fathers.
34. The rules that governed virtually every aspect of slave life were known as
a.
paternalism.
d.
spirituals.
b.
a slave code.
e.
total control.
c.
civil law.
35. Which of the following statements is true of southern free blacks?
a.
They were forbidden from becoming skilled laborers and essentially did the same work as slaves,
just with their own property.
b.
They tended to become slaveholders themselves to ensure slaves were treated well and tended to
make a fortune in cotton production.
c.
They were unable to enter into contracts, marry, or own property, as they essentially had the same
rights as slaves.
d.
Although most had lived in the South all their lives, they were forbidden from living in southern
states once they acquired their freedom and had to travel north.
e.
Although they had more rights than slaves, they often lived in fear of being kidnapped into slavery
and were subject to racist legal restrictions.
36. Some free blacks were
a.
eligible to vote.
b.
immigrants from the Caribbean.
c.
local political leaders.
d.
people of mixed ancestry called mulattoes.
e.
considered equal to whites.
37. Free blacks in the South
a.
sometimes owned slaves.
d.
outnumbered slaves.
b.
were always of mixed race.
e.
mostly emigrated to Africa.
c.
enjoyed full legal equality.
38. As the first half of the nineteenth century progressed, southern slave owners acquired
additional slaves from
a.
Africa.
d.
the West Indies.
b.
Brazil.
e.
Asia.
c.
the domestic slave trade.
39. Which of the following statements was generally true of slave life in the first half of the
nineteenth century?
a.
Their lives were similar from place to place and master to master.
b.
Masters saw the wisdom in feeding their slaves well.
c.
Field hands were organized into work gangs.
d.
Slave mothers saw the overwhelming majority of their children reach adulthood.
e.
Punishments were only meted out when a serious crime warranted them.
40. Slaves living in southern cities had a much different experience from those on farms
because
a.
they were able to interact with an extended interracial community.
b.
they held political power.
c.
they almost always received a formal education.
d.
there were no women slaves in urban areas.
e.
only free blacks could own slaves in the city.
41. Why did slave owners value slave women?
a.
They exclusively did the household labor.
b.
They had low birth rates due to their oppression.
c.
Their ability to reproduce increased the number of slaves owned.
d.
They were allowed to marry white men.
e.
They were solely responsible for harvesting the fields.
42. What was a common way in which enslaved African Americans attempted to cope with the
brutalities of slavery?
a.
They abandoned their own customs in favor of the slave master’s culture to build a sense of
cohesion in their everyday lives.
b.
They largely disengaged from other slaves and sought a path of isolation to help cultivate a stoic
mind-set that would better enable them to avoid punishment.
c.
They embraced religion and gathered in secret night meetings called spirituals where singing and
dancing gave them a much-needed emotional release.
d.
They sang religious spirituals while in the fields that reinforced their belief in the justice of slavery
as an institution and gave their daily work a sense of importance.
e.
They built secret stations for health services that had been denied to them by slave owners and
experimented with different sophisticated remedies.
43. The legal prohibition that denied slaves the right to marry
a.
prevented slaves from forming families.
b.
led to a devaluing of love in the slave community.
c.
did not stop slaves from choosing partners and forging a family life.
d.
reduced the significance of religion in slave life.
e.
did not apply to white mistresses who chose to marry slaves.
44. Slave religion
a.
mixed African and Christian elements.
b.
caused slaves to accept their condition.
c.
required reading of the Bible.
d.
was stamped out by white masters.
e.
was best observed during racially integrated church services.
45. Approximately how many slaves joined Christian denominations by 1860?
a.
none
d.
20 percent
b.
100 percent
e.
less than 1 percent
c.
more than half
46. The fear of slave resistance and rebellion increased after the successful slave revolt that took
over the French island of Saint-Domingue and turned it into the free nation of
a.
Puerto Rico.
d.
Haiti.
b.
Cuba.
e.
Jamaica.
c.
Trinidad.
47. How would southern whites attempt to prevent slave rebellions?
a.
They met any sign of resistance or rebellion with a brutal response.
b.
They tried to ensure slave loyalty through kind treatment and monetary compensation.
c.
They had dark-skinned whites infiltrate and spy on slave communities.
d.
They offered freedom and passage out of the South to the most troublesome slaves.
e.
They taught slaves the value of hard work.
48. During the nineteenth century, major slave rebellions
a.
occurred frequently.
d.
had about even odds of success.
b.
were rare.
e.
happened most often in the Lower South.
c.
were sometimes joined by poor whites.
49. Why was the slave revolt that Nat Turner led significant?
a.
It resulted in his successful escape to Canada and gave other slaves the confidence to attempt the
same.
b.
It confirmed for southern leaders that they had the upper hand and their current restrictions on
slaves were adequate.
c.
It proved the influence of abolitionists in the South, especially on the rulings of lawmakers who
were relatively lenient in their punishments of the rebels.
d.
It caused southern politicians such as John C. Calhoun to adopt a far more nationalist outlook and
to work with the North to suppress the rebels.
e.
It terrified whites across the South due to the number of whites killed before its suppression and the
idea that it could happen again.
50. A typical form of resistance pursued by slaves entailed
a.
outright rebellion.
d.
feigning illness and sabotage.
b.
murder.
e.
arson.
c.
suicide.
ESSAY
1. To what extend was the entirety of southern society, and not just economics, based on slavery?
2. Describe white society in the Old South. What myths have been associated with its various
groups? In each case, what was the reality?
3. In what ways was the South “unique” and in what ways was it not?
4. What roles did religion, folklore, and family life play in the lives of slaves?
5. Discuss the role of agriculture in shaping the Old South. Why did cotton become so important,
and what significance did other crops hold for the region?
6. Discuss the concept of honor in the Old South and what role violence played in everyday society.
7. Trace the development of black society in the Old South. What were the different groups that
comprised black society? What distinguished them from each other, and what tied them
together?
8. How prevalent were slave rebellions in antebellum America? Detail the most significant of
the nineteenth-century rebellions and explain their significance to understanding the period.
9. What made the Old Southwest different from other parts of the South? Why are those
differences important to understanding the first half of the nineteenth century?
MATCHING
Match each description with the item below.
a.
plotted an unsuccessful slave revolt near Richmond with the false expectation that “poor whites”
would join
b.
was hanged for killing her master while he was sexually assaulting her and, because she was
enslaved, was kept from testifying
c.
ran away from slavery in Maryland and became an outspoken critic of the institution
d.
was a plantation mistress and a critic of gender roles within the plantation system
e.
led a successful slave revolt on Saint-Domingue, the world’s richest colony, terrifying many whites
f.
plotted an unsuccessful slave rebellion in South Carolina in which blacks were to capture the city’s
arsenal
g.
was a free black man from New York kidnapped and sold into slavery in the South and later wrote
Twelve Years a Slave
h.
led the largest slave revolt in American history north of New Orleans, resulting in the torture and
killing of participants
i.
is the author of the anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, portraying southern planters as cunning
capitalists who brutalized slaves
j.
led a slave revolt in Southampton County, Virginia, that led the Virginia legislature to debate the
abolition of slavery and states to create more armed patrols
1. Mary Chesnut
2. Frederick Douglass
3. Solomon Northup
4. Celia
5. Harriet Beecher Stowe
6. Gabriel Prosser
7. Charles Deslondes
8. Nat Turner
9. Denmark Vesey
10. Toussaint L’Ouverture
