North & South 1790-1860 — Practice Quiz
A US History cheat sheet for North & South 1790-1860 — every key formula with its symbols defined — plus a medium-level practice quiz to test recall.
Formulas & key concepts
Term indicating the economic dominance of the Southern cotton industry; "Cotton is King"
Where: Accounted for over 50% of US exports by 1860
Region stretching from South Carolina to Texas where most US cotton was produced
Where: Area of highest slave concentration
Trade of enslaved people within the US, primarily from the Upper South to the Deep South
Where: "Second Middle Passage"; separated thousands of families
Wealthy farmers with large plantations and many slaves; dominated Southern society and politics
Where: Owned 20 or more slaves
Owners of small farms; made up the majority of Southern white population
Where: Owned few or no slaves; worked land themselves
Landless white people who lived on marginal land; survived by hunting and fishing
Where: Still supported slavery due to racial hierarchy
Lived primarily in cities; faced severe legal restrictions and discrimination
Where: Could not vote or travel freely; constant fear of kidnapping
System where all field hands worked on the same task at the same time under a driver/overseer
Where: Harsh system used on cotton plantations
Strict state laws that controlled the actions of slaves (e.g., forbidding literacy or assembly)
Where: Designed to prevent rebellion
Most violent slave revolt in US history; occurred in Virginia
Where: Resulted in stricter slave codes and crackdown on abolitionism
Emotional Christian songs that blended African and European music
Where: Used to express sorrow and hope; often contained secret codes
Oral stories with a moral; often featured trickster characters (e.g., Br'er Rabbit) outsmarting stronger ones
Where: Provided comfort and sense of survival
Ideology used by slaveholders to justify slavery; claimed they were "father figures" caring for "childlike" slaves
Where: Masked the brutality of the system
Free black carpenter who planned a major slave revolt in Charleston, SC
Where: Plot discovered before it began; led to executions
Rapid growth of cities in the North due to industrialization and immigration
Where: Led to overcrowding, disease, and crime
Famine in Ireland caused by potato blight; led to mass immigration to US
Where: Irish immigrants settled in cities; faced discrimination (Catholic)
Failed revolution in Germany; led to immigration of educated Germans to US
Where: Many settled in Midwest; opposed slavery
Americans who opposed immigration; feared immigrants would take jobs and threaten culture
Where: Formed the Know-Nothing Party
Organizations of workers formed to protect their interests and improve working conditions
Where: Fought for 10-hour workday
Labor leader who founded the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association
Where: Campaigned for 10-hour workday and better conditions
Refusals to work until employers met union demands
Where: Often met with resistance from courts and police
One of the few large industrial factories in the South (Richmond, VA)
Where: Produced cannons and steam engines; used slave labor
Southern social code emphasizing personal reputation and defense of integrity
Where: Dueling was a common way to settle disputes
Boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland; symbolic division between free North and slave South
Where: Originally a survey line
Time period in the South before the Civil War (roughly 1812-1861)
Where: Characterized by slavery and plantation system
Enslaved blacksmith who planned a rebellion in Richmond, VA
Where: Thwarted by storm and betrayal
Network of secret routes and safe houses used by enslaved African Americans to escape to free states and Canada
Where: Harriet Tubman ("Moses") was most famous conductor
Escaped slave and most famous "conductor" on the Underground Railroad
Where: Made 19 trips back South to rescue over 300 people
Abolitionist and women's rights activist; born into slavery
Where: Famous speech: "Ain't I a Woman?"
Sarah and Angelina Grimké; white Southern women who became prominent abolitionists
Where: Spoke out against slavery from personal experience
Practice quiz
By 1860, what percentage of US exports was accounted for by cotton, solidifying the concept of "King Cotton" in the Southern economy?
- Less than 25%
- Approximately 30%
- Over 50%
- Nearly 75%
Answer: Over 50%
In the Antebellum South, which group made up the majority of the white population, often owning few or no slaves and working their own land?
- Planters
- Yeomen
- Poor Whites
- Free African Americans
Answer: Yeomen
Which of the following slave revolts, occurring in Virginia in 1831, was the most violent in US history and led to stricter slave codes across the South?
- Gabriel Prosser's Rebellion
- Denmark Vesey's Conspiracy
- Nat Turner's Rebellion
- Stono Rebellion
Answer: Nat Turner's Rebellion
Enslaved African Americans often used emotional Christian songs that blended African and European music to express sorrow, hope, and sometimes secret codes. What were these songs called?
- Work chants
- Spirituals
- Blues
- Field hollers
Answer: Spirituals
The mass immigration of Irish people to the United States in the 1840s was primarily caused by what event?
- The German Revolution of 1848
- The Industrial Revolution in England
- The Irish Potato Famine
- The American Civil War
Answer: The Irish Potato Famine
Sarah G. Bagley was a prominent labor leader in the North who founded which organization to campaign for a 10-hour workday and better conditions for female factory workers?
- The American Federation of Labor
- The Lowell Female Labor Reform Association
- The National Labor Union
- The Knights of Labor
Answer: The Lowell Female Labor Reform Association
The "Domestic Slave Trade" primarily involved the movement of enslaved people from which region to which other region within the United States?
- From the Deep South to the Upper South
- From the Upper South to the Deep South
- From the North to the South
- From the West to the East
Answer: From the Upper South to the Deep South
Who was the most famous "conductor" on the Underground Railroad, known for making 19 trips back to the South to rescue over 300 enslaved people?
- Sojourner Truth
- Harriet Tubman
- Sarah Grimké
- Denmark Vesey
Answer: Harriet Tubman
What ideology did slaveholders use to justify slavery, claiming they were "father figures" caring for "childlike" enslaved people, thereby masking the brutality of the system?
- Abolitionism
- Republicanism
- Paternalism
- Manifest Destiny
Answer: Paternalism
Which of the following was one of the few large industrial factories in the Antebellum South, located in Richmond, Virginia, and notably used slave labor to produce items like cannons and steam engines?
- Lowell Mills
- Tredegar Iron Works
- Slater Mill
- McCormick Reaper Works
Answer: Tredegar Iron Works
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