The Antebellum Period

Which class of this period can be identified by these clues:

-Owned large plantations

-Part of the wealthy

-Owned 20 or more slaves

• Elite Class

• Independent Farmers

• Lower Class

• Skilled Workers

Which statement best describes the middle class during the Antebellum period?

• They usually did not own land, had few skills, and sometimes hired slaves.

• They owned small farms, worked the land, and sometimes owned a few slaves.

• They were large land owners, owned 20 or more slaves, and often sent their children to private school.

• They usually lived in cities and towns, may have owned a few slaves, and were merchants, tradesmen, and doctors.

What is the meaning of the term antebellum?

• against a war

• the time after the Civil War

• the time before the Civil War

• before bedtime

Which cash crop became important to South Carolina's economy during the Antebellum period?

• indigo

• tobacco

• cotton

• rice

Which statement best explains why slaves were important to planters?

• Slaves could grow many kinds of crops

• Slaves could work in the fields and in their houses

• Having slaves made them feel powerful

• Slaves knew how to read and write

Which of the following is not a characteristic of the independent farmers?

• owned small farms

• worked alongside their slaves

• lived in one room cabins with dirt floors

• sometimes were able to join the elite class with their success

Who invented the cotton gin?

• Eli Whitney

• George Washington

• Thomas Sumter

• Abraham Lincoln

Who carried freedom papers?

• Independent farmers

• Enslaved African Americans

• Free African Americans

• Lower Class

Which class can be identified by these characteristics?

-Very poor

-Uneducated and unskilled

-Did not own their own land, but rented land from someone else for a share of the crop

• Lower Class

• Middle Class

• Independent Farmers

• Elite Class

Which of the following is NOT a job that a middle class person would have?

• plantation owner

• merchant

• tradesmen

• doctor