8.2: Slavery and Abolition

Multiple Choice

How did the perspectives of free-soilers differ fundamentally from radical abolitionists?

• Free-soilers wanted immediate slave emancipation

• Free-soilers primarily opposed slavery to protect white economic interests

• Free-soilers advocated for violent slave rebellions

• Free-soilers supported complete racial integration

Multiple Choice

What characterized Quaker involvement in the abolition movement?

• military resistance and resettlement

• advocacy and direct support

• political lobbying and foreign diplomacy

• contributions of both money and good

Multiple Choice

How did abolitionists like William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass ultimately diverge in their approaches?

• Garrison supported violent rebellion as the best option, Douglass opposed it under any circumstances.

• Douglass believed in peaceful political action, while Garrison advocated more radical methods

• Garrison supported sending Black people "back" to Africa, Douglass opposed it

• Douglass supported immediate emancipation, Garrison advocated gradual change

Multiple Choice

How did female abolitionists like the Grimké sisters challenge existing social norms?

• They communicated their stance by remaining silent whenever slavery was brought up.

• They spoke publicly, even in mixed-gender audiences, to directly challenge racial discrimination

• Unlike most of their friends, family, and neighbors, the sisters were staunch supporters of slavery.

• Mostly by writing private letters, but on occasion a letter to the editor when they felt it necessary.

Multiple Choice

What philosophical paradox existed in the early American abolitionist movement?

• complete racial egalitarianism despite a racial earning gap

• consistent humanitarian principles alongside Manifest Destiny and its effects on Native Americans

• support for both democracy and the rule of law, and for armed slave rebellions

• advocating for abolition while still holding white supremacist beliefs

Multiple Choice

What strategy did abolitionists like David Walker represent that differed from most other anti-slavery advocates?

• complete support for colonization

• advocacy for violent resistance and rebellion

• passive resistance to oppression

• Effective political lobbying

Multiple Choice

Which approach did abolitionists use to challenge the institution of slavery?

• Violent rebellion was their main tactic.

• Many strategies including publications, speeches, petitions, social organizing...and violence when necessary.

• Primarily through legal challenges to overturn laws enforcing slavery in the nation's courts.

• Primarily through political elections to put anti-slavery politicians in power.

Multiple Choice

What broader societal transformation did the abolition movement represent?

• a minor political disagreement over representation in the House and Senate

• a fundamental moral and philosophical challenge to existing American social structures

• an economic debate over which system created greater national prosperity in order to compete in international mercantilism

• a continuation of the same racial conflict between black and white shown between Rome and Carthage in the Punic Wars

Multiple Choice

How did free African Americans in New Orleans differ from those in other Southern regions?

• They were completely equal to white citizens.

• They had a unique legal and social status with more protections than most.

• They were not allowed to own property in the city, but could in rural areas.

• They were universally persecuted by everyone, including enslaved people.

Multiple Choice

What long-term social impact did mutual aid societies have for free African Americans?

• They provided essential support systems, skill development, and community solidarity.

• They mostly helped only wealthy and free wealthy African Americans.

• The fact that they were quickly disbanded was exemplary of the Black experience of the time.

• They led to conflict as Blacks disagreed on how to allocate scarce resources.

Multiple Choice

How did spirituals function beyond mere musical expression for enslaved populations?

• musical entertainment for their masters, putting them in a better mood and less likely to be abusive

• a mechanism for cultural preservation, emotional expression, and potential communication

• meaningless songs that helped pass the work day faster, often by working to the beat

• they served as informal historical documentation, since most slaves were illiterate

Multiple Choice

Why did slave owners often encourage slaves to marry and have children?

• to increase population

• to provide emotional support

• to reduce likelihood of escape or rebellion

• to produce soldiers for an impending war

Multiple Choice

How did urban slavery fundamentally differ from rural plantation slavery?

• Urban slaves had more autonomy and potential skill development.

• Urban slaves were completely free since cities had already abolished slavery.

• Other than being smaller in number, urban slaves were treated exactly like rural slaves

• Urban slaves mostly had white collar jobs, such as lawyer or accountant.

Multiple Select

What made Nat Turner's 1831 rebellion significant?

• it was entirely peaceful, yet effective

• it immediately ended slavery

• it was the largest slave revolt in U.S. history

• it led to congressional debate about expanding slavery

Multiple Choice

What strategic significance did slave revolts like Nat Turner's have in the antebellum South?

• They immediately ended slavery

• They directly caused widespread slave emancipation

• They intensified white fears and led to more restrictive slave codes

• They united slaves across different plantations

Multiple Choice

Which of these is NOT an argument proslavery advocates used to justify slavery's existence?

• pure economic rationalization to protect Southern agriculture

• Biblical interpretation that slavery was part of God's plan

• narrative of the "happy slave" who enjoyed his situation

• enslaving Africans prevented them from conquering Europe

Multiple Choice

What motivated the most Northern whites to support limiting slavery's expansion?

• moral opposition to slavery

• economic and political self-interest

• religious convictions

• direct sympathy for enslaved people