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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who said the following: "I have never seen or heard from her from that day to this. I loved her as I love my life."

2. During which months were the slave coffles usually seen?

3. What was Henry Johnson's account about slavery?

4. What was the main lesson that Byrl Anderson learned from his Master?

5. What was it about the African civilizations that made it easier for colonists to use the Africans more easily?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What did Ol' Gabe used to do?

3. Why did the colonists turn to blacks as a means of manual labor?

4. What was it that kept many slaves from killing their masters? Who is an example of one such slave who demonstrated this?

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

6. What does Chapter 5 say about slave insurrections?

7. What was the story of Blackshear and what was the significance?

8. According to Rhody Holsell in the Epilogue, what were Lincoln's plans for the blacks if he had lived and does Holsell agree with the idea?

9. What kept the slaves working in the fields day in and day out?

10. What was the importance of music in the lives of the slaves?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many people blame the national government for many problems. In the case of slavery, what role should government have played? Should they have intervened years before and if they had, what might have resulted? When the Civil War started, it was not because of slavery. Was this, too, a fault of the government for not making the issue of slavery a primary concern? How did it eventually become a primary concern? And after the war ended, what plans did the government have for the end of slavery, if any? How did President Abraham Lincoln handle things?

Essay Topic 2

There is a very long narrative about a slave named Paul in the novel. Give a brief summary about the story. Why is it included in the novel? Discuss what Paul symbolizes. What happens to Paul in the end? Discuss the reason for Paul's decision for his own life and how the narrator of Paul's story feels about it. Do you agree with Paul's decision? Why or why not? The narrator notes the iron collar around Paul's neck. What does it symbolize? The narrator also notes the three bells. What do they symbolize?

Essay Topic 3

Most slaves craved freedom. Many thought death was better than the life they lived. The book mentions many accounts in which slaves mention that they would rather die than be re-captured into slavery or that they would rather their babies die free than be born into slavery. Discuss the reasons why a slave would think this way and whether it is the right way to think. Is death really the only option if freedom is unavailable?

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