Question 1

On the eve of the Civil War, ________ was the major means of transportation in the South.

Accepted Answer

water

Question 2

In the first half of the nineteenth century, why did cotton become the major economic crop of the American South?

Accepted Answer

In the first half of the nineteenth century, cotton became the major economic crop of the American South due to several interrelated factors:

1. **Demand for Cotton**: The Industrial Revolution, particularly in Britain, led to the growth of textile factories, which increased the demand for cotton. Cotton was needed to feed the spinning jennies, power looms, and other machines that were producing fabric at an unprecedented scale. The American South, with its climate and soil conditions, was well-suited to meet this demand.

2. **Invention of the Cotton Gin**: In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, a machine that could efficiently remove the seeds from cotton fibers. This invention dramatically reduced the labor required to process cotton and made it economically viable to produce cotton on a large scale. As a result, cotton production in the South boomed.

3. **Expansion of Slavery**: The profitability of cotton cultivation was heavily reliant on the labor of enslaved African Americans. The institution of slavery provided a cheap and abundant labor force for the intensive work of planting, tending, and harvesting cotton. The expansion of cotton cultivation led to a corresponding expansion of slavery in the South.

4. **Land Availability**: The American South had vast tracts of fertile land that were suitable for cotton cultivation. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 and the subsequent removal of Native American tribes opened up even more land for cotton plantations.

5. **Economic Investment**: Southern planters and Northern investors poured money into cotton cultivation, seeing it as a lucrative business. The profits from cotton sales were reinvested into buying more land and more slaves, creating a cycle that entrenched cotton as the dominant crop.

6. **Transportation Improvements**: The development of steamboats and the expansion of the railroad network made it easier and cheaper to transport cotton to ports for export. This logistical improvement supported the growth of the cotton economy.

7. **Political Support**: Southern politicians worked to protect and promote the interests of the cotton industry, including maintaining the institution of slavery, enacting tariffs to protect domestic production, and pursuing policies that facilitated the expansion of cotton cultivation.

As a result of these factors, cotton became known as "King Cotton," reflecting its central role in the economy of the American South. It was the dominant force driving the region's economy, shaping its social structure, and influencing its politics until the Civil War.

Question 3

James De Bow argued that the South should pursue agricultural development while relying on the North for industrial goods and capital.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False  False

Question 4

The slave family lacked legal marriage. Nevertheless, the "________" consistently emerged as the dominant kinship model among African Americans.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The slave family lacked legal marriage. Nevertheless,...

Question 5

Which of the following statements about the poorest class of white southerners is FALSE?

Accepted Answer

A)  They often felt affinity with slaves as members of another oppressed class. 
B)  They were known variously as "crackers" or "sand hillers." 
C)  They supported themselves by foraging or hunting. 
D)  They suffered from pellagra, hookworm, and malaria. 
E)  They were forced to resort at times to eating clay. 
A)  They often felt affinity with slaves as members of another oppressed class. 
B)  They were known variously as "crackers" or "sand hillers." 
C)  They supported themselves by foraging or hunting. 
D)  They suffered from pellagra, hookworm, and malaria. 
E)  They were forced to resort at times to eating clay.

Question 6

In southern cities, slave tasks might include mining, lumbering, blacksmith, or carpentry.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 7

The "peculiar institution" was ________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The "peculiar institution" was ________....

Question 8

Prior to 1860, southern women differed from northern women in that they

Accepted Answer

A)  tended to have more formal education. 
B)  were expected to be more subordinate to men. 
C)  had fewer children. 
D)  generally had a lesser engagement in the economic life of the family. 
E)  were more likely to take a role in public activities. 
A)  tended to have more formal education. 
B)  were expected to be more subordinate to men. 
C)  had fewer children. 
D)  generally had a lesser engagement in the economic life of the family. 
E)  were more likely to take a role in public activities.

Question 9

What obstacles to industrialization existed in the South during the nineteenth century?

Accepted Answer

There were several obstacles to industri

Question 10

For the most part, slaves rejected Christianity.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 11

Between 1840 and 1860, the American South's slave population

Accepted Answer

A)  could not meet the South's labor needs. 
B)  changed little. 
C)  dramatically shifted into the Southwest. 
D)  declined in overall numbers. 
E)  became concentrated in the upper South. 
A)  could not meet the South's labor needs. 
B)  changed little. 
C)  dramatically shifted into the Southwest. 
D)  declined in overall numbers. 
E)  became concentrated in the upper South.

Question 12

Short-staple cotton

Accepted Answer

A)  helped to keep the South a predominantly agricultural region. 
B)  was less coarse than long-staple cotton. 
C)  was easier to process than long-staple cotton. 
D)  was more susceptible to disease than long-staple cotton. 
E)  was only grown in the coastal regions of the upper South. 
A)  helped to keep the South a predominantly agricultural region. 
B)  was less coarse than long-staple cotton. 
C)  was easier to process than long-staple cotton. 
D)  was more susceptible to disease than long-staple cotton. 
E)  was only grown in the coastal regions of the upper South.

Question 13

Slave spirituals were written down and passed on to generations of African Americans.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 14

Rice and sugar production in the antebellum South

Accepted Answer

A)  had short growing seasons. 
B)  were concentrated in a relatively small geographic area. 
C)  had difficulty sustaining profits for growers. 
D)  was in considerable decline by the 1850s. 
E)  threatened to overwhelm cotton production in the lower South. 
A)  had short growing seasons. 
B)  were concentrated in a relatively small geographic area. 
C)  had difficulty sustaining profits for growers. 
D)  was in considerable decline by the 1850s. 
E)  threatened to overwhelm cotton production in the lower South.

Question 15

The central ideology of slavery, and the vital instrument of white control, was

Accepted Answer

A)  fraternity. 
B)  maternalism. 
C)  paternalism. 
D)  sorority. 
E)  egalitarianism. 
A)  fraternity. 
B)  maternalism. 
C)  paternalism. 
D)  sorority. 
E)  egalitarianism.

Question 16

One actual slave revolt that resulted in numerous white deaths in the nineteenth-century South was led by

Accepted Answer

A)  Nat Turner. 
B)  Denmark Vesey. 
C)  Gabriel Prosser. 
D)  Frederick Douglass. 
E)  Harriet Tubman. 
A)  Nat Turner. 
B)  Denmark Vesey. 
C)  Gabriel Prosser. 
D)  Frederick Douglass. 
E)  Harriet Tubman.

Question 17

To the degree that the South developed a nonfarm commercial sector, it was largely to serve the needs of the ________ economy.

Accepted Answer

The answer of To the degree that the South developed...

Question 18

Describe the lives of most free blacks in the South and how they changed over the half-century leading up to the Civil War.

Accepted Answer

The lives of most free blacks in the Sou

Question 19

When emancipation came after the Civil War, it was often the ________ who were the first to leave the plantation of their former owners.

Accepted Answer

A)  field hands 
B)  head drivers 
C)  house servants 
D)  subdrivers 
E)  craftsmen 
A)  field hands 
B)  head drivers 
C)  house servants 
D)  subdrivers 
E)  craftsmen

Question 20

In the South, the most significant opposition to the slave system came from the poorest of southern whites.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Exam 11: Cotton, Slavery, and the Old South

On the eve of the Civil War, ________ was the major means of transportation in the South.

In the first half of the nineteenth century, why did cotton become the major economic crop of the American South?

James De Bow argued that the South should pursue agricultural development while relying on the North for industrial goods and capital.

The slave family lacked legal marriage. Nevertheless, the "________" consistently emerged as the dominant kinship model among African Americans.

Which of the following statements about the poorest class of white southerners is FALSE?

In southern cities, slave tasks might include mining, lumbering, blacksmith, or carpentry.

The "peculiar institution" was ________.

Prior to 1860, southern women differed from northern women in that they

What obstacles to industrialization existed in the South during the nineteenth century?

For the most part, slaves rejected Christianity.

Between 1840 and 1860, the American South's slave population

Short-staple cotton

Slave spirituals were written down and passed on to generations of African Americans.

Rice and sugar production in the antebellum South

The central ideology of slavery, and the vital instrument of white control, was

One actual slave revolt that resulted in numerous white deaths in the nineteenth-century South was led by

To the degree that the South developed a nonfarm commercial sector, it was largely to serve the needs of the ________ economy.

Describe the lives of most free blacks in the South and how they changed over the half-century leading up to the Civil War.

When emancipation came after the Civil War, it was often the ________ who were the first to leave the plantation of their former owners.

In the South, the most significant opposition to the slave system came from the poorest of southern whites.

The Collision of Cultures

Transplantations and Borderlands

Society and Culture in Provincial America

The Empire in Transition

The American Revolution

The Constitution and the New Republic

The Jeffersonian Era

Varieties of American Nationalism

Jacksonian America

America’s Economic Revolution

Antebellum Culture and Reform

The Impending Crisis

The Civil War

Reconstruction and the New South

The Conquest of the Far West

Industrial Supremacy

The Age of the City

From Crisis to Empire

The Progressives

America and the Great War

The “New Era”

The Great Depression

The New Deal

The Global Crisis, 1921–1941

America in a World at War

The Cold War

The Affluent Society

Civil Rights, Vietnam, and the Ordeal of Liberalism

The Crisis of Authority

From the “Age of Limits” to the Age of Reagan

The Age of Globalization

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