Question 1

The chapter introduction tells the stories of several southerners-Colonel Daniel Jordan; a nameless
Texan; Sam Williams and his wife Nancy; Octave Johnson; and Ferdinand Steel-to make the point that

Accepted Answer

The chapter introduction uses the stories of various southerners to illustrate that despite the diversity in the antebellum South, it was fundamentally unified by its reliance on a slave-based agricultural economy.

Question 2

When cotton farmers were opening up new land for cotton cultivation, they typically planted ________
The first year after clearing the new fields.

Accepted Answer

Cotton farmers typically planted corn the first year after clearing new fields to help prepare the soil for cotton cultivation in subsequent years.

Question 3

In which of the following states did slaves outnumber white southerners by the 1850s?

Accepted Answer

By the 1850s, South Carolina was the only state where the enslaved population outnumbered the white population.

Question 4

Which of the following was NOT true about slavery as a labor system?

Accepted Answer

As slavery spread into the Deep South, wealth and power became more concentrated among the wealthy plantation owners, rather than being more equally shared among various classes of white southerners.

Question 5

Which statement best summarizes the effects of slavery on the southern economy?

Accepted Answer

Slavery retarded southern development by focusing on agriculture, particularly cotton, and discouraged industrialization, leading to economic dependency on the North for manufactured goods and financial services.

Question 6

In spite of poor diet, lack of medical care, and a high infant mortality rate, the United States was the only slave society in the Americas where the

Accepted Answer

The United States was unique among slave societies in the Americas because the slave population increased naturally, meaning births outnumbered deaths, despite the harsh conditions.

Question 7

In the 1830s, reacting to Nat Turner's rebellion and the growing abolitionist movement, southern slaveholders developed the argument that slavery was a positive good. Which of the following assertions was NOT part of their proslavery argument?

Accepted Answer

Southern slaveholders did not argue that opponents could build no persuasive argument against slavery; rather, they focused on justifying slavery as a positive institution through other means.

Question 8

The ________ system of social stratification separated individuals by various distinctions, among them heredity, rank, profession, wealth, and race.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The ________ system of social stratification separated...

Question 9

Within the slave community, ________ slaves sometimes deemed their color a badge of superiority.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Within the slave community, ________ slaves sometimes...

Question 10

Most often slave folktales used ________ as symbolic models for the predicaments in which slaves found themselves.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Most often slave folktales used ________ as...

Question 11

Some defenders of slavery used the paternalistic ideal, where a master cared for his slaves as if they were his ________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Some defenders of slavery used the paternalistic...

Question 12

Identify three major differences between society and life on the cotton frontier and in the Tidewater region. What was the significance of these differences?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Identify three major differences between society and...

Question 13

Describe the class structure of the Old South. What was the relationship of slavery to this class structure?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Describe the class structure of the Old...

Question 14

What pressures did slavery place on plantation mistresses?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What pressures did slavery place on plantation...

Question 15

What united slaves in the Old South? Were there significant divisions among slaves?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What united slaves in the Old South?...

Question 16

What role did religion play in the lives of slaves? How did that role differ from the role of religion encouraged by many white masters?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What role did religion play in the...

Question 17

Describe the change in attitudes toward slavery in the South before and after the early 1830s. What events contributed to that change?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Describe the change in attitudes toward slavery...

Question 18

What arguments did southerners use to defend slavery?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What arguments did southerners use to defend...

Question 19

Compare and contrast slave revolts in North America and Latin America.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Compare and contrast slave revolts in North...

Question 20

The chapter introduction profiles several southerners: Colonel Daniel Jordan, a plantation master in South Carolina; a planter from the Red River country of Texas; Sam Williams, a skilled ironworker slave from Virginia, and his wife Nancy; Octave Johnson, a slave in Louisiana; and Ferdinand Steel, a farmer in Mississippi. Using what you have learned from the text about the class structure of the Old South, to which class does each of these people belong? Explain how each class differs from the others.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The chapter introduction profiles several southerners: Colonel...

Quiz 13: The Old South

The chapter introduction tells the stories of several southerners-Colonel Daniel Jordan; a nameless Texan; Sam Williams and his wife Nancy; Octave Johnson; and Ferdinand Steel-to make the point that

When cotton farmers were opening up new land for cotton cultivation, they typically planted ________ The first year after clearing the new fields.