Quiz for Thinking Like a Historian:
Biography as History

Question

1. On which of the following assumptions did Joseph Smith (source 1) base his argument for the abolition of slavery?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is b. Joseph Smith did not question slave owners’ property rights or the morality of slavery and the wealth it created. He argued simply that paid work performed by free people was virtuous and that “an hour of virtuous liberty on earth is worth a whole eternity of bondage.”
Incorrect. The answer is b. Joseph Smith did not question slave owners’ property rights or the morality of slavery and the wealth it created. He argued simply that paid work performed by free people was virtuous and that “an hour of virtuous liberty on earth is worth a whole eternity of bondage.”

Question

2. In source 2, Orson Hyde suggested that the Mormon church endorse which of the following strategies for resolving the issue of slavery in the United States?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is c. Hyde implies that the Mormons’ strategy for resolving the issue of slavery in the United States was not to oppose the institution directly, but to bring more Americans into the church and “teach them to do right, and honor their God in His creatures.” In doing so, he suggested that the Mormons could teach Americans that slavery was wrong.
Incorrect. The answer is c. Hyde implies that the Mormons’ strategy for resolving the issue of slavery in the United States was not to oppose the institution directly, but to bring more Americans into the church and “teach them to do right, and honor their God in His creatures.” In doing so, he suggested that the Mormons could teach Americans that slavery was wrong.

Question

3. How did Biddy Mason’s experience of westward migration differ from that of the typical slave whose master took him or her to the West?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is d. Most slaves who were forced West during the antebellum period worked cotton plantations for the rest of their lives. Biddy Mason was unusual in that she was able to use her new geographic location to obtain her freedom.
Incorrect. The answer is d. Most slaves who were forced West during the antebellum period worked cotton plantations for the rest of their lives. Biddy Mason was unusual in that she was able to use her new geographic location to obtain her freedom.

Question

4. What did Biddy Mason have in common with the wives of Amasa Mason Lyman, pictured in source 3?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is c. Robert Smith, Mason’s master, fathered children with his wife, Rebecca, as well as with Mason and her sister Hannah. Although he was legally married only to Rebecca Smith, he also had ongoing relationships with at least two other women. Biddy Mason’s experience, then, was similar in some respects to those of Amasa Mason Lyman’s many wives.
Incorrect. The answer is c. Robert Smith, Mason’s master, fathered children with his wife, Rebecca, as well as with Mason and her sister Hannah. Although he was legally married only to Rebecca Smith, he also had ongoing relationships with at least two other women. Biddy Mason’s experience, then, was similar in some respects to those of Amasa Mason Lyman’s many wives.

Question

5. The court case that won Biddy Mason her freedom in 1856 is most similar to which of the following well-known Supreme Court cases of the same period?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is a. Like Dred Scott, Biddy Mason petitioned the court for her freedom after her master carried her into a free state (California) and then prepared to carry her back into slave territory. Mason’s case resulted in her freedom, however, while Dred Scott lost his case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1857.
Incorrect. The answer is a. Like Dred Scott, Biddy Mason petitioned the court for her freedom after her master carried her into a free state (California) and then prepared to carry her back into slave territory. Mason’s case resulted in her freedom, however, while Dred Scott lost his case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1857.