AP African American Studies Practice Quiz: Slavery and American Law: Slave Codes and Landmark Cases
Written by AP Content Team, Verified for 2026 AP Exams, Last updated: May 2026
Test your understanding with short quizzes. This quiz has 16 questions to check your progress.
Question 1 of 16
All Questions (16)
A) It explicitly protected the institution of slavery by name.
B) It referred to slavery using euphemisms but avoided the actual terms.
C) It set a future date for the mandatory abolition of slavery.
D) It was completely silent on the issue of enslaved persons.
Correct Answer: B
The provided content states, 'Article I and Article IV of the United States Constitution refer to slavery but avoid using the terms “slave” or “slavery.”' This indicates that the issue was addressed indirectly.
A) A temporary condition based on debt or criminal conviction.
B) A system of labor exclusive to adult males.
C) A race-based, inheritable, and lifelong condition.
D) A contractual agreement with a path to freedom.
Correct Answer: C
The text explicitly states, 'Slave codes defined chattel slavery as a race-based, inheritable, lifelong condition...'
A) The Dred Scott Supreme Court decision.
B) The ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment.
C) The Stono Rebellion of 1739.
D) The enactment of voting restrictions in New York.
Correct Answer: C
The content specifies the cause-and-effect relationship: 'South Carolina’s 1740 slave code was updated in response to enslaved people’s resistance during the Stono Rebellion in 1739.'
A) A requirement to serve in the state militia.
B) A prohibition on testifying against white people in court.
C) A mandate to own property in order to reside in the state.
D) An obligation to teach literacy to enslaved people.
Correct Answer: B
The text provides examples of restrictions in free states, noting that Ohio enacted laws 'to keep free Black men from... testifying against white people in court.'
A) Enslaved people who entered free territories were automatically granted freedom.
B) African Americans, whether enslaved or free, could not be U.S. citizens.
C) The international slave trade was declared unconstitutional.
D) States could not pass laws restricting the movement of free Black people.
Correct Answer: B
The text summarizes the decision: 'Dred Scott’s freedom suit (1857) resulted in the Supreme Court’s decision that African Americans, enslaved and free, were not and could never become citizens of the United States.'
A) Practicing any form of religion.
B) Learning to read.
C) Marrying.
D) Owning livestock.
Correct Answer: B
The text lists several prohibitions from the 1740 code, including one against enslaved people 'learning to read.'
A) By creating separate but equal facilities for different races.
B) By encouraging immigration from European countries only.
C) By reserving opportunities for upward mobility for white people while denying them to Black people.
D) By establishing a formal caste system based on skin tone gradations.
Correct Answer: C
The text states that these laws 'hardened the color line... by reserving opportunities for upward mobility and protection from enslavement for white people... and by denying opportunities to Black people on the same premise.'
A) English common law and the Magna Carta.
B) Napoleonic Code and the Declaration of the Rights of Man.
C) German Civil Code and the Laws of the Indies.
D) Code Noir and the Código Negro.
Correct Answer: D
The text provides an international context, mentioning that 'These regulations manifested in enslaving societies throughout the Americas, including the Code Noir and Código Negro in French and Spanish colonies, respectively.'
A) The Declaration of Independence.
B) Article I of the Constitution.
C) The Bill of Rights.
D) The Thirteenth Amendment.
Correct Answer: D
The text clearly states, 'These terms appear for the first time in the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished slavery.'
A) New York and Ohio.
B) South Carolina and Virginia.
C) Wisconsin and Iowa.
D) Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.
Correct Answer: C
The text makes a specific point about suffrage rights: 'Before the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870, only Wisconsin and Iowa had given Black men the right to vote.'
A) As foreign nationals without legal standing.
B) As indentured servants with limited-term contracts.
C) As nonsubjects who were presumed to be enslaved.
D) As protected wards of the colonial government.
Correct Answer: C
The text explains, 'The 1740 code classified all Black people... as nonsubjects and presumed enslaved people.' This created a legal presumption of enslavement based on race.
A) Economic downturns in the plantation economy.
B) The influence of abolitionist movements in the North.
C) African Americans’ resistance to the conditions of slavery.
D) The westward expansion of the United States.
Correct Answer: C
The text directly links the development of slave codes to resistance, stating that one of the learning objectives is to 'Explain how slave codes developed in response to African Americans’ resistance to slavery.' The Stono Rebellion is used as a prime example of this.
A) refusing a work order from an overseer.
B) attempting to purchase their own freedom.
C) trying to defend themselves from an attack by a white person.
D) possessing currency without permission.
Correct Answer: C
The text highlights the brutality of the code, stating it 'condemned to death any enslaved persons who tried to defend themselves from attack by a white person.'
A) Only enslaved people living in Southern states.
B) Only free African Americans living in Northern states.
C) Both enslaved and free African Americans throughout the United States.
D) Only African Americans who had attempted to sue for their freedom.
Correct Answer: C
The text explicitly states the decision applied to 'African Americans, enslaved and free,' denying that either group could ever become citizens, making its scope national and affecting all people of African descent.
A) regulate interstate commerce related to slavery.
B) provide a legal framework for gradual emancipation.
C) define African Americans' status by denying them citizenship rights and protections.
D) settle disputes between slave states and free states over territorial expansion.
Correct Answer: C
This question synthesizes the main idea of the text. The content states, 'Legal codes and landmark cases intertwined to define the status of African Americans by denying them citizenship rights and protections.'
A) free states were preparing for a civil war over the issue of slavery.
B) the denial of opportunities for Black people was not confined to the slaveholding South.
C) free African Americans posed a significant economic threat to white workers.
D) the federal government mandated such restrictions in all states.
Correct Answer: B
The text shows that 'Free states enacted laws to deny free African Americans opportunities for advancement,' which supports the conclusion that systemic racism and the denial of rights were national, not just regional, issues.