hist 13

How did white Virginians respond to the violence of Nat Turner’s rebellion?

White Virginians blamed the revolt on outside agitators.

In 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville observed that the major differences between the North and South revolved around

the southern institution of slavery.

After 1820, what caused slavery to become more profitable, which in turn increased the South’s political power?

Cotton production expanded to the West.

By 1860, what percentage of the world’s supply of cotton was produced in the southern United States?

75 percent

In 1790, there were fewer than 700,000 slaves in the South; by 1860 that number had increased to about

4 million.

What was the primary cause of the growth in the southern slave population between 1790 and 1869?

Natural reproduction

In 1860, blacks made up a majority of the population in

South Carolina.

According to South Carolina political leader John C. Calhoun, what happened in states where slavery was abolished?

The condition of blacks got worse.

How did the institution of slavery affect social relations in the South?

Whites were unified around race rather than divided by social class

Which statement characterizes white Southerners in the antebellum South?

Most white Southerners did not own slaves.

Which staple crop was grown almost exclusively along a narrow strip of coast stretching from the Carolinas into Georgia?

Rice

How important was agriculture to the economy of the North?

It combined with commerce and manufacturing in a mixed economy.

Prior to the Civil War, why did the South remain agriculturally based instead of diversifying its economy?

Planters made good profits and feared economic change.

What was a consequence of the South’s lack of economic diversity?

Newly arrived European immigrants tended to settle in the North.

Why were there no statewide public school systems in the South as late as 1850?

Planters saw no need to educate their workforce.

How did larger planters have the time to concentrate on marketing and finance while still running a profitable plantation?

They hired overseers to go to the fields with the slaves.

What did plantation owners mean when they described the master-slave relationship in terms of "paternalism?"

A slave’s labor and obedience were exchanged for the master’s care and guidance.

As the price of slaves continued to rise, masters began to treat their slaves marginally better because

masters became more fearful of slave uprisings with the passage of time.

How did slaves manipulate planters’ emphasis on paternalism?

Slaves sometimes negotiated concessions like small garden plots.

What did southern men need in order to achieve high social standing and success in the world of politics?

An honorable reputation

How did southern men’s emphasis on chivalry affect southern law?

Southern laws affirmed the paramount rights of husbands.

Which statement describes the daily lives of southern women on the plantation?

They worked long hours performing plantation duties.

Most plantation mistresses kept their opinions on issues to themselves, but the diarist Mary Boykin Chesnut echoed most women in railing against

miscegenation.

By 1860, the slave system existed

in almost every industry.

What happened to slave men when they became elderly?

They moved on to new jobs, like cleaning stables.

What was an advantage of being a house servant in the Old South?

House slaves enjoyed somewhat less physically demanding work.

The rarest job on the plantation for slaves was that of driver, the person who

made sure all slaves worked hard.

What was the most frequent cause of the end of slave marriages?

Death of a spouse

Why did planters promote Christianity in the slave quarters?

They believed Christianity would make slaves more obedient.

African American Christianity, created by slaves themselves,

emphasized justice.

Which of the following was the most common way slaves reacted to their bondage?

Small-scale resistance

Most runaway slaves

were caught and returned.

Why were open slave revolts uncommon in the South?

Heavily armed whites outnumbered blacks two to one by 1860.

In 1860, the largest number of white Southerners

were nonslaveholding yeoman farmers.

How did yeomen in the plantation belt of the South feel about wealthy planters?

They relied on planters to ship and sell their cotton for them.

The typical plantation belt yeoman in the old South aspired to

move up to the planter class.

Most upcountry yeomen focused on cultivating

food.

The economy of the upcountry South depended on

barter.

What percentage of nonslaveholding rural white men were landless and very poor?

25 percent

Which statement characterizes the religion of southern plain folk?

Southern plain folk enjoyed religious revivals.

Which of the following restrictions were placed on the 260,000 free blacks in the South by 1860?

They could not participate in politics.

Most free blacks in the antebellum South

lacked education.

Which statement describes the life of free black elites in cities like Charleston and New Orleans?

They had the right to vote.

The goal of most free blacks in the South was to

preserve their own freedom.

The majority of poor white men in the South would agree on which statement?

The South should promote agriculture.

By the 1850s, the political system of the white South

had extended suffrage for all adult white males.

What did the leaders of the Whig and Democratic parties have in common?

They declared allegiance to republican equality.

How did the democratization of politics in the South change the shape of government?

Democratization changed the voter rolls more than the officeholders.

Elite Southerners maintained their power over the yeoman majority by

convincing yeomen of their shared interests.

How did powerful whites defend slavery from attacks by critics?

They used intimidation tactics to silence critics.