Freedom, Slavery, and Resistance

In 1667, the Virginia House of Burgesses passed a law declaring that the baptism of enslaved people 'doth not alter their condition as to bondage or freedom.' Which of the following best explains the primary purpose of this law?

In the Spanish colony of Florida, the settlement of Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose (Fort Mose) was established in 1738. Which of the following best explains why this community is historically significant in the study of flight from enslavement?

In colonial Brazil, self-liberated Africans established a massive, independent federation of settlements in the seventeenth century that successfully resisted Portuguese military campaigns. Which of the following is the name of this grand maroon community?

Read the following excerpt from the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case of *United States v. The Amistad* (1841):

'It is also a most important consideration, in the present case... that these Negroes are natives of Africa, and were kidnapped there, and were unlawfully transported to Cuba, in violation of the laws and treaties of Spain... [T]hey are not slaves... but are free, and of right ought to be free.'

Based on the excerpt and your knowledge of history, which of the following conclusions is best supported by the *Amistad* revolt and its legal outcome?

Consider this excerpt from a 1664 Maryland colonial law:

'Be it enacted... that all Negroes or other slaves within the province, and all Negroes and other slaves to be hereafter imported into the province, shall serve *Durante Vita* [for life]...'

This statute reflects which of the following developments in the legal construction of American slavery?

According to historical analyses of the antebellum South:

'Enslaved women’s resistance was deeply tethered to the geographic boundaries of the plantation. Because child-rearing duties and the threat of sexual violence constrained their ability to run away long-distance, their resistance frequently took the form of creating "rival geographies"—covert spaces within the plantation, such as cabins or nearby woods, where they controlled social life, practiced healing, and hid stolen goods.'

Based on this analysis, which of the following statements best describes how gendered roles and constraints influenced the resistance strategies of enslaved women?

Read the passage below:

'The main leader of the rebellious Negroes is a Negro named Bioho, who is so bold that he calls himself king... He has established a fortified settlement (palenque) in the rugged mountains of María, from which they launch raids on plantations to liberate more people and secure provisions, defying the authority of Cartagena.'
—Adapted from reports of Spanish colonial officials in Cartagena de Indias, c. 1600–1620

Based on the passage and your knowledge of the African diaspora, the establishment of communities like the one led by Bioho best illustrates which of the following historical developments?

In 1640, the Virginia Governor's Council sentenced John Punch, an African runaway servant, to serve his master for the remainder of his life, while his two European companions were sentenced only to additional years of service. This judicial decision is historically significant because it represents which of the following?

In the antebellum United States, enslaved African Americans frequently relied on herbal remedies, charms, and spiritual practices derived from West African traditions to treat illnesses and seek protection. Which of the following terms refers to this practice of combining spiritual beliefs and traditional herbal medicine?

Read the excerpt from William Snelgrave’s *A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea, and the Slave-Trade* (1734):

'I asked them why they had mutinied... One of them, who could speak a little English, answered that I was a great rogue to buy them and carry them away from their own country, and that they were resolved to gain their liberty if they could... I told them they were now my property, and that they must submit. But they replied that they would rather die than be kept as slaves, and that if they had another opportunity, they would rise again.'

Which of the following historical conclusions is best supported by the excerpt?

The 1811 German Coast Uprising in Louisiana, led by Charles Deslondes, is historically significant primarily because it represents which of the following?

In 1800, Gabriel Prosser planned a major rebellion to capture the city of Richmond, Virginia, and demand the abolition of slavery. What primary obstacle directly led to the failure and collapse of this conspiracy before it could be launched?

Read the following excerpt from the trial testimony of an enslaved conspirator prosecuted for participating in Gabriel Prosser's conspiracy in Richmond, Virginia, in 1800:

'I have nothing more to offer than what General Washington would have had to offer, had he been taken by the British and put to trial by them. I have adventured my life in endeavouring to obtain the liberty of my countrymen, and am a willing sacrifice in their cause...'

This testimony best supports which of the following conclusions about Gabriel Prosser's conspiracy?

Which of the following best describes how British colonial assemblies in North America constructed the legal system of racial slavery during the seventeenth century?

During the era of chattel slavery in the United States, enslaved laborers frequently sang call-and-response work songs while cultivating crops. In addition to retaining West African musical traditions, how did this practice primarily serve as a form of everyday resistance?

Following the suppression of Denmark Vesey’s 1822 conspiracy in Charleston, South Carolina, white authorities focused their legislative and punitive response on dismantling autonomous Black institutions. Which of the following was a direct consequence of this response?

Read the following excerpt from a ship master's logbook during a transatlantic voyage in 1747:

'On the night of the 14th of September, the captives confined in the hold did, by some secret correspondence and understanding among themselves, though of different nations and languages, combine to break their irons. Having rid themselves of their shackles, they waited until the morning watch when the hatches were opened. They rushed upon the deck in a body, armed with parts of the water casks and pieces of iron they had wrenched from the vessel’s structure, attempting to overpower the crew and take command of the ship...'

Based on the excerpt, which of the following conclusions about captive Africans during the Middle Passage is most accurate?

The following timeline outlines key statutory milestones in seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century colonial Virginia:

* 1662: Statute declaring that children inherit the legal status of their mothers.
* 1667: Act specifying that Christian baptism does not change an enslaved person's status of bondage.
* 1680: Law prohibiting enslaved individuals from gathering in large groups, traveling without authorization, or carrying weapons.
* 1705: Enactment of a comprehensive code defining enslaved laborers as chattel real estate.

What historical development does this sequence of legal changes best demonstrate?

The 1656 freedom suit of Elizabeth Key, a biracial woman in colonial Virginia who successfully claimed her liberty based on her father's status as a free Englishman and her own Christian baptism, exposed a significant vulnerability in the colonial labor system. Because English common law dictated that a child's legal status followed the father, colonial planters faced the prospect of losing the labor of children fathered by free white men with enslaved women. In response to cases like Key's, the Virginia House of Burgesses enacted legislation in 1662 that overturned common law, establishing that all children born in the colony would inherit the status of the mother.

Based on the passage, how did the legal response to Elizabeth Key's freedom suit shape the gendered nature of hereditary chattel slavery in the British colonies?

The tales of the Rabbit and the Fox, which the Negroes tell on the plantations, always represent the Rabbit as the victor. Though he is the weakest of all the beasts, he is the most cunning, and by his tricks he constantly outwits the Fox and the Wolf.
— Adapted from a 19th-century account of plantation folklore in the American South

Which of the following best explains the historical significance of the storytelling tradition described in the passage?