ANTH2802 Midterm Exam – The systematic study of Africans

African Studies Question

ANTH 2802: Introduction to African American Studies Midterm Exam  

SECTION I: Multiple choice questions (20 points) This section consists of 20 multiple-choice or true/false questions. 

1. _____The systematic study of Africans in the Diaspora at the University level started in the 1960s when the first department of Black Studies was founded.

A) True

B) False

2. _____The point of African American Studies is:

A) The radical idea that people of African descent are objects and therefore should be depicted as such.

B) That people of African descent should be studied scientifically by people of African descent without bias

C) to conduct scientific research that does not generate social upliftment

D) All of the Above

3. _____ All of the following statements about Juan Garrido are true EXCEPT:

A) He planted the first wheat crop in the Americas.

B) He participated in the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire.

C) He remained a slave his entire life despite his many achievements.

D) He served for a time as a civil official in Spain’s Mexican empire.

4. _____ Which of the following statements about Africans’ involvement in the exploration of the New World is LEAST accurate?

A) Early English explorers relied heavily on African guides and laborers.

B) Africans constituted a significant portion of early settlers in France’s North American colonies.

C) Africans, both free and enslaved, contributed substantially to Spanish enterprises in the Americas. he remained a slave his entire life despite his many achievements.

D) Some Africans held positions of authority or responsibility in European empires and excursions in the New World.

5. _____Afrocentricity is a living paradigm that requires researchers to:

A) Take on an ethnocentric framework to understand social life

B) Focus solely on African-centered praxis

C) Focuses on Blacks as the center of research rather than the margins

D) Both B and C

6. _____Blacks Studies Methodological Paradigm does NOT require:

A) A scholar to identify the problematic relationship of your research through historical analysis.

B) A scholar to compare your research with your current understanding of how the social phenomenon works.

C) A scholar to review measures and methods of collecting data.

D) A scholar to keep your theory, the same considering new findings.

7. _____The conflict paradigm is a conceptual framework that sees society as an area of equality that creates harmony.

A) True

B) False

8. _____What is the chronological order of the three West African Kingdoms:

 A) Ghana, Songhai, Mali

 B) Mali, Songhai, Ghana

 C) Ghana, Mali, Songhai

D) Mali, Ghana, Songhai

9. _____Ghana was made up of farming communities, and a well-trained army to protect the kingdom, but did not have much wealth:

 A) True

B) False

10. _____What was NOT a reason why the Kingdom of Mali rose to power:

A) Defeated Songhai and captured the Songhai capital in 1240.

B) Had expansive trade routes to build wealth from gold and salt.

C) Had a strong central government which divided the kingdom into providences.

D) Both A and B.

11. _____Africans were not present during European Exploration that led to the “discovery” of the Americas:

A) True

B) False

12. _____Why were Africans needed as enslaved labor?

A) Because Africans were inferior to Europeans.

B) Labor became a primary source of European countries’ wealth.

C) European indentured servants and Indigenous peoples as slaves were not a sustainable labor source.

D) Both B and C.

13. _____Slavery in the Caribbean commonly had:

A) Low infant mortality rate.

B) Improper nutrition and food.

C) Work distinctions between men and women

D) All of the above.

14. _____Slave revolts prior to the 1800s were:

 A) Seldom to None.

B) Only happened in St. Thomas, a small Danish island.

C) Happened often, which led to fugitive slaves creating maroon communities.

D) Only happened in the Caribbean.

15. _____ Why was Slavery in Latin America different from Slavery in the Caribbean?

A) Slavery in Latin America was not violent toward slaves.

B) Slavery in Latin America offered opportunities for education and freedom.

C) Slaves in Latin America were like indentured servants.

D) Because of the treatment of the enslaved in Latin America, these countries did not import African enslaved peoples.

16. _____Slavery in North America looked the same in all the colonies.

A) True

B) False

17. _____Which of the following market factors impacted the Domestic Slave Trade:

A) Demand for enslaved people.

B) Supply of enslaved people.

C) Financial turmoil in the economy.

D) All of the Above.

18. _____Slave codes in North America:

A) Outlined the plantation duties for each enslaved person.

B) Explained why African enslaved persons were inferior to White colonists.

C) Slave codes were laws to protect slave masters.

D) None of the Above.

19. _____In the Carolina colonies, the frontier condition limited White people’s absolute power over African slaves who held important skills for the development of those areas.

A) True

B) False

20. _____In which colony was African Knowledge of canoe construction and river navigation important:

A) The Carolina Colonies

B) Virginia, Chesapeake Colony

C) The Massachusetts Bay Colony

D) The New York Colony

SECTION II: Short Answer Questions (80 points) Section II consists of seven short answer questions in which you are required to answer five in total. Each question has multiple components. Please make sure to provide at least one sentence for each part of the five questions you decide to answer. If you need more space, write on the back of the exam with the number of questions indicated.

Short answer questions are 16 points each. Points will be deducted if you do not clearly and thoroughly answer any part of the question or if you answer less than five questions.

Extra credit will be given if you correctly answer more than 5 short answer questions. Please write EC next to the questions you would like for extra credit.

21. Explain how Black Studies emerged in the United States (6 points). Discuss the origin of Black Studies (5 points) outside of the academy and then Black studies institutionalization in higher education (5 points).

22. Compare slavery in the Caribbean, Spanish Latin America, and Brazil. What features did slavery in the three regions share? (3 points)? What significant differences existed from region to region (5 points)? What roles did economics, religion, and demography play in shaping the character of slavery in the different regions (5 points)? Which regions offered the most opportunities for manumission or revolt (3 points)?

23. Name the three most prominent African empires (3 points). Summarize what made these African empires so prominent (4 points). Provide at least three examples from each empire (9 points for each).

24. We often think of slavery as a large social institution that had little variation. However, slavery looked very different within certain regions in the United States. Explain the regional differences within the institution of slavery between the mid-Atlantic colonies (Pennsylvania or New York) and lower South, Eastern Seaboard colonies (the Carolinas). You should provide racial demographics of the area (4 points), tasks assigned based on the geographical area (4 points), slave codes (4 points), and preservation of African culture (4 points).

25. Common Knowledge about slavery assumes that Africans were “shiftless, lazy, and stupid” requiring much training from their owners. However, our readings provide evidence to change that narrative. Provide four examples of the skills, technologies, and abilities enslaved Africans brought to the U.S. (4 points for each).

Extra credit: In two paragraphs, explain how the fight over enslavement in the U.S. still impacts our political landscape today (5 extra points on exam