Quiz for Beyond America’s Borders: “Transatlantic Abolition”

Select the best answer for each question. Click the “submit” button for each question to turn in your work.

Question

1. Quakers in both the United States and Britain strongly opposed slavery because their faith stressed the crucial importance of

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is d. The Quaker religion strongly emphasizes the importance of human equality, which is why many Quakers in both countries felt a moral opposition to slavery. For this reason, Quakers were an important source of anti-slavery sentiment in the early nineteenth century.
Incorrect. The answer is d. The Quaker religion strongly emphasizes the importance of human equality, which is why many Quakers in both countries felt a moral opposition to slavery. For this reason, Quakers were an important source of anti-slavery sentiment in the early nineteenth century.

Question

2. In addition to signing anti-slavery petitions, what role did British women play in abolition efforts in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is b. Women were crucial participants in the boycott against slave-produced sugar organized by the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade in the 1780s. Since women were traditionally the cooks in British households, their refusal to buy sugar produced with slave labor was essential to the boycott’s efficacy.
Incorrect. The answer is b. Women were crucial participants in the boycott against slave-produced sugar organized by the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade in the 1780s. Since women were traditionally the cooks in British households, their refusal to buy sugar produced with slave labor was essential to the boycott’s efficacy.

Question

3. Why was it possible for Britain to financially compensate all slaveholders for the value of their slaves when slavery was abolished in the 1830s?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is a. Financial compensation for slaveholders was only possible in Britain because the total number of slaveholders at the time of abolition was relatively small. This is very different than the situation the United States faced in the 1850s and 1860s, when the large number of slaveholders (and the value of their slaves) meant that financial compensation by the federal government was simply impossible.
Incorrect. The answer is a. Financial compensation for slaveholders was only possible in Britain because the total number of slaveholders at the time of abolition was relatively small. This is very different than the situation the United States faced in the 1850s and 1860s, when the large number of slaveholders (and the value of their slaves) meant that financial compensation by the federal government was simply impossible.

Question

4. France, which freed all of its slaves decades before Britain or the United States, abolished slavery as a result of

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is c. The central values of the French Revolution, which began in 1789, were liberté (liberty) and égalité (equality). The institution of slavery seemed antithetical to these values, and so in 1794, France’s National Assembly abolished slavery in all French colonies, immediately freeing all slaves and making them French citizens.
Incorrect. The answer is c. The central values of the French Revolution, which began in 1789, were liberté (liberty) and égalité (equality). The institution of slavery seemed antithetical to these values, and so in 1794, France’s National Assembly abolished slavery in all French colonies, immediately freeing all slaves and making them French citizens.

Question

5. In which of the following ways did British abolitionists influence anti-slavery efforts in the United States?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is b. In the wake of Parliament’s passage of the Abolition of Slavery Act in 1833, British and American abolitionists significantly increased their communication and collaboration, as American activists tried to draw on the British success as inspiration for ending slavery in the United States. For example, American abolitionists wanted to make their countrymen more aware of how successful British abolition had been, in hopes that the movement would gain popularity at home.
Incorrect. The answer is b. In the wake of Parliament’s passage of the Abolition of Slavery Act in 1833, British and American abolitionists significantly increased their communication and collaboration, as American activists tried to draw on the British success as inspiration for ending slavery in the United States. For example, American abolitionists wanted to make their countrymen more aware of how successful British abolition had been, in hopes that the movement would gain popularity at home.