2. While some poor southern whites resented the dominance of the “slavocracy” most supported the institution and accepted the power of the planter class. Why did the “plain folk” continue to support slavery?
4. Identify the basic elements of the proslavery defense and those points aimed especially at non-southern audiences.
6. Describe the difference between gang labor and task labor for slaves, and explain how slaves’ task varied by region across the Old South.
8. Identify the different types of resistance to slavery. Which ones were the most common, the most effective, and the most demonstrative?
Chapter 12
1. How did the utopian communities challenge existing ideas about property and marriage?
3. What were the similarities and differences between the common school and institutions like asylums, orphanages, and prisons that were created by reformers?
5. How was the abolition movement affected by other social and economic changes such as the rise in literacy, new print technology, and ideas associated with the market revolution?
7. How could antebellum women participate in the public sphere even though they were excluded from government and politics?
9. How did advocates for women’s rights in these years both accept and challenge existing gender beliefs and social roles?
Discussion question (500 words)
How do the peculiar institution, slavery, and the Age of Reform correlate to each other? How were they opposed to each other?