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Slavery in America Trivia

Slavery in America Trivia Quizzes

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17 quizzes and 175 trivia questions.
1.
Slavery in America
  Slavery in America Test   best quiz  
Photo Quiz
 10 Qns
Slavery lasted for several centuries in America, from the 1600s to 1865. This quiz traces the course of this terrible practice. It's not a pleasant topic, but we can only be thankful that it finally came to an end.
Average, 10 Qns, littlepup, Jan 31 17
Average
littlepup
931 plays
2.
  What do you know about Slavery in America?   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This is the very first quiz that I have created! I hope you enjoy it!
Average, 10 Qns, valerie0186, Jun 22 15
Average
valerie0186
11436 plays
3.
  The Fight To End Slavery   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 15 Qns
See how much you know about the fight to end slavery, a barbaric practice in the United States that was known in its time as that "peculiar institution".
Average, 15 Qns, msgene, Sep 12 17
Average
msgene
9905 plays
4.
  William Lloyd Garrison, Famous Abolitionist   best quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879) devoted his life to ending slavery in America, and finally lived to see the 13th Amendment adopted, freeing everyone. This quiz is about his life -- with hints!
Average, 10 Qns, littlepup, May 28 17
Average
littlepup
224 plays
5.
  Basic US History: #1 Slavery   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
First in an intermediate series of quizzes intended for citizens of other lands or Americans looking to brush up on some basics.
Average, 10 Qns, Nealzineatser, May 04 17
Average
Nealzineatser gold member
499 plays
6.
  Bacon Tait -- Richmond's Major Slave Trader   best quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Bacon Tait was one of Richmond, Virginia's major slave traders, though he's almost forgotten today, and so is his unusual family. This quiz is based on new discoveries published by LSU Press in 2017. Look for hints!
Average, 10 Qns, littlepup, Jan 03 17
Average
littlepup
214 plays
7.
  Nat Turner and His Rebellion   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Learn more about the leader of the slave rebellion known as the Southampton Insurrection.
Average, 10 Qns, skylarb, Jul 27 20
Average
skylarb
Jul 27 20
345 plays
8.
  The Right to be Free: Abolitionists   top quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
The U.S. struggled with slavery for decades before finally ending it in 1865. These brave men and women spoke out against it in the midst of the crisis, risking their reputations and sometimes their lives.
Average, 10 Qns, littlepup, Nov 02 14
Average
littlepup
466 plays
9.
  They Fought Against Slavery   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Slavery was an institution for 200 years in America, but during that time there were many people who fought against it. How much do you know about these people?
Tough, 10 Qns, laughinggirl, Dec 03 09
Tough
laughinggirl
3779 plays
10.
  Slave Rebellions--When Freedom Was So Close   top quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Slave rebellions brought freedom so close, but slavery was a powerful system that made escape almost impossible. A few brave rebels still tried, and this quiz is about them, both those who succeeded or failed in helping themselves or others.
Average, 10 Qns, littlepup, Nov 19 16
Average
littlepup
258 plays
trivia question Quick Question
What was the name of the play President Lincoln was watching in Fords Theatre the evening he was murdered by John Wilkes Booth?

From Quiz "The Fight To End Slavery"




11.
  The 1850 Fugitive Slave Act   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
The 1850 Fugitive Slave Act was supposed to be part of a compromise that brought the country together. Well, no. It helped tear the country further apart, and almost started a war by itself. What was so bad about it?
Average, 10 Qns, littlepup, Dec 04 16
Average
littlepup
260 plays
12.
  When Citizens Stood Up To Slave Catchers   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Before 1865, slave catchers had the legal right to drag runaway slaves back from free states and re-enslave them. But sometimes, local citizens didn't let that happen. Here are two questions each on five different "rescues," out of so many that occurred.
Average, 10 Qns, littlepup, Nov 22 16
Average
littlepup
254 plays
13.
  The Story of Amistad   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This is the story of a group of African slaves who only wanted freedom.
Tough, 10 Qns, pennie1478, Nov 04 09
Tough
pennie1478 gold member
2149 plays
14.
  I Exist...Honest!   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This quiz is based on Hank Trent's discovery of who wrote "Narrative of James Williams, an American Slave" (1838), as documented in the 2013 annotated edition, but you don't need to have read it. Lots of hints!
Average, 10 Qns, littlepup, Feb 06 15
Average
littlepup
298 plays
15.
  Sold South    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Tens of thousands of Americans endured the enforced journey from the upper to the lower south, during the heyday of the interstate slave trade in the early 1800s. This quiz explores their experience.
Tough, 10 Qns, littlepup, Nov 02 14
Tough
littlepup
307 plays
16.
  The Fall of Captain Nathaniel Gordon   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Nobody bothered prosecuting slave ship captains - until a new president and a new district attorney took over.
Difficult, 10 Qns, CariM0952, Jun 27 07
Difficult
CariM0952 gold member
748 plays
17.
  Frederick Douglass   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
How much do you know about America's greatest abolitionist and civil rights leader of the 19th century?
Very Difficult, 10 Qns, BigMoSTL, Jul 12 09
Very Difficult
BigMoSTL
1058 plays

Slavery in America Trivia Questions

1. In which state was Nat Turner born?

From Quiz
Nat Turner and His Rebellion

Answer: Virginia

Nat Turner was born into slavery in Southampton County, Virginia on October 2, 1800. Southampton County is located on the southern border of Virginia and North Carolina. By the time of Nat Turner's rebellion, the area had more free and enslaved blacks than whites.

2. In what state was William Lloyd Garrison born, in 1805? He grew up there, in the land of the bean and the cod and the bay, where there were no slaves and only a few black people.

From Quiz William Lloyd Garrison, Famous Abolitionist

Answer: Massachusetts

Massachusetts had about 1.5% blacks in the 1800 and 1810 federal censuses, all of them free. Slavery had ended in the state after several 1780s court cases showed it was incompatible with Massachusetts' state constitution. Garrison grew up in a state whose citizens had once participated in the African slave trade, but who had changed and not only cooperated with the end of the African trade everywhere in 1808, but had ended slavery within the state -- a progressive attitude that carried over into his life and the lives of others in his generation, as they hoped to end slavery everywhere in the United States. It was going to be a struggle, though.

3. What was the basis for the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act? Why did we even need it?

From Quiz The 1850 Fugitive Slave Act

Answer: it defined how to enforce Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution

Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3 stated "No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due." In other words, if an enslaved person ran away to a free state, he/she wasn't free no matter what laws the free state passed or how hard it tried to nullify federal laws. The free state always needed to take the enslaved person back into slavery. Residents of free states didn't like that. They didn't want slave owners telling them what to do.

4. What coastal slave ship was taken over by its enslaved passengers in 1841 and sailed to Nassau, where the slaves were tried and freed under British law? Not the more famous Amistad, this ship makes one think more of New Orleans cooking.

From Quiz Slave Rebellions--When Freedom Was So Close

Answer: Creole

The passengers of the Creole managed almost a miracle: a successful slave uprising. They were bound from the area of Richmond, Va. down the coast to New Orleans, being shipped by interstate slave traders. Madison Washington led the rebellion, and once he had a white man who promised to obey, he asked that they be taken across the ocean to Liberia in Africa. After he learned that was impossible for a coast-bound ship, they agreed on any nearer area under British control. They landed in Nassau, and after much legal arguing, almost all were set free. Similar things had happened before when weather or other trouble had forced American slave ships into British ports, and British courts were grudgingly setting up a system of freeing the people and compensating the owners with money for their value. The Creole made it to Nassau in good weather under its own sail, and the slaves took advantage of the situation.

5. At its height, what was the approximate population of slaves in the southern states just before the Civil War?

From Quiz Basic US History: #1 Slavery

Answer: four million people

According to the 1860 U.S. Census, there were 3,950,528 slaves held in the states at that time. Certainly, accuracy, methodology and exact numbers are questionable, but the general scope of the "peculiar institution" and the untenable problems it created are not. Georgia had the most, with 462,198 and Mississippi had the greatest percentage, 55% of its population or 436,631 slaves. With these massive numbers of people in captivity, it's easy to see how the fear of slaves escaping and rebelling was a major concern for plantation owners.

6. Some people claimed "Narrative of James Williams, an American Slave" (1838) was fictional or a fraudulent memoir. Although the author was a real slave, he did change his name. What was his birth name? His twin brother's first name was Meshech.

From Quiz I Exist...Honest!

Answer: Shadrach Wilkins

Although James Williams mentioned his twin brother Meshech in the narrative, people in the 1830s still argued whether Williams was the same person as Shadrach Wilkins, not noticing that he'd given away the answer. The names Shadrach and Meshech made more sense than James and Meshech because of the Biblical characters Shadrach, Meshech and Abednego. The famous Frederick Douglass coincidentally escaped to freedom in New York in 1838, the same year as James Williams, though they never met. Jim Thornton was another alias that James Williams used during his many adventures.

7. How many autobiographies did Douglass write?

From Quiz Frederick Douglass

Answer: 3

He wrote three: "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass", "My Bondage and My Freedom", and the "Life and Times of Frederick Douglass".

8. What was the name of the slave ship commanded by Captain Nathaniel Gordon?

From Quiz The Fall of Captain Nathaniel Gordon

Answer: Erie

Gordon took on a crew in Havana, telling them they were on a legitimate trading voyage. Only when well into the trip did they check the stores - and realise there were far more provisions than they would need. They smelled a rat. When they brought this up to the captain, he offered to let anyone who did not want to stay on the ship go ashore - where there was little chance of them being found by a legitimate ship.

9. In the early 1820s, this man led a slave rebellion in Charleston, South Carolina. Who was it?

From Quiz They Fought Against Slavery

Answer: Denmark Vessey

Denmark Vessey had managed to buy his freedom and supported himself as a carpenter. In July of 1822, Vessey with about 80 others, planned to take over Charleston. However, he was betrayed, and the rebellion never even had a chance to start. There has been recent evidence that perhaps Vessey was framed for the incident.

10. From 1837 to 1839, how many African slaves were taken from Africa to Cuba to be sold?

From Quiz The Story of Amistad

Answer: 25,000

In 1817, a treaty was made between Britain and Spain banning the sale of slaves in any Spanish colonies. Over a two year period, 25,000 slaves were taken to Cuba to be sold. The slaves that weren't sold in Cuba were put back on the Amistad.

11. When were the first Black indentured servants brought to any of the English-speaking colonies in what is now the U.S.?

From Quiz Slavery in America

Answer: 1619

A number of African people were kidnapped, then transported to transported to Virginia 1619. They were sold as indentured servants to the English settlers. Soon their status as virtual slaves turned into legal slavery.

12. When were the first African laborers in effect sold to planters in Virginia?

From Quiz The Fight To End Slavery

Answer: 1619

This human cargo arrived when a Dutch slave trader landed unexpectedly in Virginia. The Africans were technically "indentured servants", not slaves. However, they had almost no rights ... Thus began one of our nation's darkest periods as the fight to end this horrific institution was to last almost 250 years.

13. Nat Turner once ran away from his master but returned when what happened?

From Quiz Nat Turner and His Rebellion

Answer: He had a vision from God telling him to return

Turner was deeply religious and had learned to read in his youth, largely by studying the Bible. Although he ran away when he was 21, after becoming delirious from hunger, he believed he had a vision from God telling him to return to his master. He became a preacher among his fellow slaves and continued to have visions, which earned him the nickname of "The Prophet." According to Deborah Gray-White in "Freedom on my mind: A History of African Americans," one day, while working in the fields, on May 12, 1828, Nat had a vision that he should "fight against the Serpent."

14. As young as age 13, William Lloyd Garrison began an apprenticeship in a field that would help him in his life's endeavor, which was to convince people that slavery was wrong and spread the news about abolitionism. What jobs did he take?

From Quiz William Lloyd Garrison, Famous Abolitionist

Answer: an apprentice typesetter, newspaper writer and editor

William Lloyd Garrison came from a poor family. His father left when he was three and his mother died when he was 18. He began selling candy and lemonade and delivering wood, but at age 13, he apprenticed as a compositor or typesetter for the local Newburyport Herald. After he finished his apprenticeship, he wrote for, edited, or owned a variety of newspapers which he either left or which failed, some just regular papers, others with specific causes such as temperance or anti-slavery.

15. Bacon Tait met a young foreigner, Thomas Boudar, whose language skills would help him when he began trading slaves in New Orleans a few years later. What other language besides English did Boudar speak?

From Quiz Bacon Tait -- Richmond's Major Slave Trader

Answer: French

Thomas Boudar was born in Cuba in 1802 to a French family who had fled from Santo Domingo with other French families during the revolution there. Though he certainly grew up in a French culture and learned French from his family, he may also have known Spanish, an additional useful language in New Orleans.

16. Was the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act the first federal law requiring slaves to be returned?

From Quiz The 1850 Fugitive Slave Act

Answer: no, the 1850 act replaced the original 1793 Fugitive Slave Act

The 1850 act replaced the 1793 Fugitive Slave Act which had been in place for 57 years, but was not effective enough to make the slave states happy. The 1850 Act contained several significant changes. If you were enslaved, the new law made it harder for you to escape. If you were free, it was harder for you to help someone escape. That's coming up in more detail next, but watch for hints.

17. In the 1858 Ohio slave rescue, citizens came from the local college town to take the escaped slave to Canada so he wouldn't be returned to slavery in Mayfield, Kentucky. What was his name? He had a price on his head.

From Quiz When Citizens Stood Up To Slave Catchers

Answer: John Price

John Price had escaped from the farm of John G. Bacon in 1856, and had spent two years near Oberlin, Ohio, mainly living with James Armstrong, another black laborer. Anderson Jennings, the neighbor of Price's owner back in Kentucky, worked to recapture Price. He got Shakespeare Boynton, the son of an Oberlin landowner, to approach Price with an offer of work, but it was actually a trap. Price was taken to the Wadsworth House Hotel in Wellington, Ohio, where the successful rescue took place.

18. What man tried to take over the armory at Harpers Ferry, Va. in 1859, starting probably one of the most famous slave revolts today, although he was soon captured and hanged?

From Quiz Slave Rebellions--When Freedom Was So Close

Answer: John Brown

No hints, other than listing obscure abolitionists for the alternate choices, as I hope John Brown's name is well known enough. With only a few men armed mainly with pikes, he began a grandiose plan to begin a slave rebellion that would spread far and wide within the south. The first step was to gain better weapons at the U.S. arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Va., which was filled with brand new guns. He was cornered and soon caught, ironically by Col. Robert E. Lee. He was put on trial and hanged, and was remembered either as a martyr, a crazy person or an example of what abolitionists might do to the south. The country careened ever closer toward civil war.

19. When did the first slaves arrive in the American colonies?

From Quiz Basic US History: #1 Slavery

Answer: 1619

A Dutch ship off-loaded 20 captured Africans at Jamestown, Virginia in 1619, bringing the barbarous and immoral practice of human chattel slavery to America, initially in the form of indentured servants. The activity grew to epic proportions and eventually tore the nation apart. The motivation and purpose for this burgeoning human traffic was economic and basic. The new colonists needed cheap labor to cultivate their crops, chiefly tobacco at first, which was in great demand in England. It is noteworthy that for at least a hundred years previously, European explorers, adventurers and early settlers had already brought slaves to areas of the Caribbean and South America. For example, King Ferdinand of Spain authorized a shipment of fifty slaves to Santo Domingo in 1510, effectively kicking off the systematic import of forced slave labor into the New World.

20. James Williams didn't mention it in his narrative, but what was the actual reason he was sold from Virginia to Alabama? His white neighbors must have been relieved to see him go.

From Quiz I Exist...Honest!

Answer: He tried to help poison a neighboring slave owner.

Williams offered to supply poisonous hemlock root to a neighboring enslaved man so he could kill his owner. The other conspiring slaves were caught, tried and banished from Virginia. Though Williams was not tried in court, his owner was too afraid to keep him, so she sold him and his family to Alabama. In the narrative, Williams says he was sent south to be a driver on another plantation owned by his same master and omits the real reason, which would make him seem less sympathetic.

21. How many times did Douglass and Abraham Lincoln meet?

From Quiz Frederick Douglass

Answer: three times

They met three times: In August 1863, the second time the following August and the third and final time on the day of Lincoln's second inauguration. On the last occasion, Lincoln called Douglass "My good friend."

22. How many Africans were purchased for the sum of 150 hogsheads of whiskey?

From Quiz The Fall of Captain Nathaniel Gordon

Answer: 897

About one half of the Africans purchased were children, the youngest being around 6 months old. The rest were younger adults, the eldest being about 40. Men and women were equally represented in the latter group. Children did not obtain as high a price as adults, but more could be fit into the ship, making it more lucrative than taking on just adults.

23. Who led the mutiny against the Amistad?

From Quiz The Story of Amistad

Answer: Cinque

In June of 1839, Cinque was a slave who was put on the Amistad along with fifty-two other slaves, including four children. One month after being put on the Amistad, Cinque led a mutiny in which the Captain and the cook of the ship were killed. Two crewmen escaped in a rowboat. Two other crewmen named Jose Ruiz and Pedro Montes were kept alive to steer the ship back to Africa.

24. Where had the first slaves sold to English settlers been kidnapped?

From Quiz Slavery in America

Answer: The Caribbean

Of course, the slaves ultimately came from various parts of West Africa and this was the main source of the slave trade.

25. A person opposed to slavery and who fought to end this institution was known as a/an _______.

From Quiz The Fight To End Slavery

Answer: abolitionist

Although Quakers helped many slaves escape bondage, "abolitionist" is the correct answer, as it includes all those who sought to abolish slavery.

26. William Lloyd Garrison's fiery personality showed up early, while he co-edited an anti-slavery newspaper, the "Genius of Universal Emancipation," in his 20s. Why was he sentenced to a six-month jail term?

From Quiz William Lloyd Garrison, Famous Abolitionist

Answer: guilty of libel for criticizing a slave shipper

While co-editing the Baltimore "Genius of Universal Emancipation," Garrison named a slave shipper, Francis Todd of Massachusetts, in the newspaper's "Black List" of slave mistreatment. Todd had shipped slaves legally from Baltimore to New Orleans, but Garrison criticized him publicly in the newspaper. Baltimore wasn't very friendly to emancipationists anyway, and Todd argued he was doing nothing wrong. Garrison either couldn't or didn't pay the fine, so he was sentenced to six months in jail, but only had to serve seven weeks, because abolitionist Arthur Tappan paid the fine. It ended his career with the "Genius of Universal Emancipation," though on a friendly note.

27. Bacon Tait first partnered with some experienced slave traders, before setting out on his own. His senior partners, James Wilkinson and Henry DeEnde, were located in which two states, like many other pairs of interstate slave traders?

From Quiz Bacon Tait -- Richmond's Major Slave Trader

Answer: Virginia and Louisiana

Wilkinson and DeEnde had been trading slaves from Virginia to New Orleans since 1822. Both were originally from Virginia, but DeEnde had moved to New Orleans years earlier. Wilkinson bought slaves in Virginia and De Ende sold them in New Orleans. Tait suggested to Wilkinson and DeEnde that if they let him in as a partner, he wouldn't compete with them, because he was planning to start trading himself if they didn't let him in. Also, his extra investment would increase their capital and help them earn more. They agreed, and he joined them in 1828 by investing $10,000, money which he had inherited from his father and then increased by investing in real estate. He had done well in real estate, so it was only a portion of all he had. He worked with Wilkinson in Virginia as a slave buyer.

28. A freeman, who was named after a country, tried to organize a large rebellion in 1822 in Charleston, S. C., but he was caught and the rebellion broken up before it could begin. What was his name?

From Quiz Slave Rebellions--When Freedom Was So Close

Answer: Denmark Vesey

Denmark Vesey, also called Telemaque, bought his freedom after winning a lottery, and worked as a carpenter in Charleston, S.C. He managed to organize hundreds, perhaps thousands, of slaves and free blacks to revolt starting July 14, 1822, the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille in the French revolution. By some accounts, he planned to kill Charleston slaveowners, free their slaves, and sail to Haiti where he would be safe. With so many people involved, the plan was impossible to keep quiet, and two men in particular, George Wilson and Joe LaRoche, gave specific details, apparently due to their loyalty to their masters. The potential insurrectionists were tried, and sentenced depending on their degree of involvement and hostile attitude. Sixty-seven were hanged including Vesey, 31 were transported out of state, 27 acquitted, and 38 released. Other laws were passed limiting slaves' ability to attend churches, and restricting the movement of free blacks. The name Denmark probably comes from where he was born, St. Thomas in the Danish West Indies. I tried to help by giving names of other people who weren't real.

29. What single crop indirectly led to a huge spike in the slave population during the period from 1787 to 1808, and further divided the North and South due to different economic systems?

From Quiz Basic US History: #1 Slavery

Answer: cotton

In 1794, Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin (word derived as an abbreviation of "engine," not the alcoholic drink!) This simple machine greatly accelerated the process of separating cotton fiber from seed, increasing by a factor of fifty the amount of cotton that could be processed by a single individual. This actually increased the need for slave labor because of the profitability factor. As growing cotton became a potentially huge money maker, demand for the raw material skyrocketed and plantation owners scrambled for more land to plant and more bodies to work that land. The economies of the North and South evolved in different directions, with the North becoming more industrialized and city-based, while the South remained chiefly agrarian, supplying raw materials to the North. This was a main reason slavery became such an integral part of life in the South.

30. At a slave auction house in the antebellum south, a man steps out and hangs a red flag on the front of the building. What does that mean?

From Quiz Sold South

Answer: An auction will be held today

A red flag was a traditional sign for any forthcoming auction of property, but as the interstate slave trade grew and some auctioneers began to specialize in selling only slaves, the red flag came to be an emotional symbol for those who knew it signalled that many lives would be disrupted permanently that day.

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