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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Between the time that a slave was bought and sold by a trader, what happened to him?
(a) His well-being was looked after.
(b) He was punished so he would not run away.
(c) He was allowed to spend extra time with his family.
(d) He was given a few days vacation.

2. Why did the attempt to use this second group of people also fail for the English colonists?
(a) They felt that because they too were white, that they deserved equal treatment and refused to work.
(b) They were lazy and did not do their required work well.
(c) The seven year turnover meant a continued supply of new people and they could easily run away and blend in with other whites people.
(d) They were susceptible to several diseases in the New World and many died quickly.

3. Slave traders chained slaves together in a line in what was called a _________________.
(a) Slave chain.
(b) Slave coffle.
(c) Slave auction.
(d) Slave line-up.

4. What was the name of the white man who taught his black son to call him "Papa" instead of "Master?"
(a) Charley Williams.
(b) Byrl Anderson.
(c) Frank Cooper.
(d) Powhatan Mitchell.

5. Which person fits the author's description of the type of slave that was "so enslaved that once slavery had ended, they were sorry"?
(a) Charley Williams.
(b) Alice Johnson.
(c) Annonymous.
(d) Byrl Anderson.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many lashes would a slave receive for something like a broken branch in the field or a dry leaf in the cotton?

2. With whom did slave owners sometimes try to be gentle with before they bought them?

3. Whose account is an example of a joyous occasion seen at the auction block?

4. What is one way early slave trades were carried out?

5. What animals did the master who taught his son to call him "Papa" use to teach his black son and white son about brotherhood?

Short Essay Questions

1. Discuss the role of establishing house-servants and what they did.

2. Why did ex-slaves change their names after Emancipation? Was it a valid reason?

3. Describe what it means to be thrown "in a buck."

4. According to the Prologue, how was slavery in the United States different than slavery in other countries?

5. What was the reason that the Federal Writer's Project interviewed so many blacks?

6. What was Julius Lester's purpose for writing "To Be a Slave" and did he accomplish it?

7. Why were many of the former slaves that the Federal Writer's Project interviewed bitter?

8. What were three ways that the Prologue mentions in which slave trading was carried out?

9. In the Prologue, what does Ball say happened to the African women and children?

10. Describe how the slaves were held in the slave galley of the ships.

(see the answer keys)

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