AP U.S. History Practice Quiz: Slavery in the British Colonies
Written by AP Content Team, Verified for 2026 AP Exams, Last updated: May 2026
Test your understanding with short quizzes. This quiz has 14 questions to check your progress.
Question 1 of 14
All Questions (14)
A) A moral belief in the institution of slavery
B) A shortage of available indentured servants
C) A direct order from the British monarchy
D) The lack of other profitable economic activities
Correct Answer: B
The provided content explicitly states that participation in the Atlantic slave trade was due to abundant land, European demand for goods, and 'a shortage of indentured servants.'
A) The gradual emancipation of enslaved people
B) The establishment of a strict racial system
C) The encouragement of indentured servitude
D) The limitation of the slave trade to specific ports
Correct Answer: B
The content states, 'new laws created a strict racial system that defined the descendants of African American mothers as black and enslaved in perpetuity.'
A) Petitioning colonial governments for their freedom
B) Assimilating completely into European culture
C) Maintaining their family systems, culture, and religion
D) Relocating to colonies with fewer enslaved people
Correct Answer: C
Point 5 of the content clearly indicates that Africans developed means to resist by 'maintain[ing] their family systems, culture, and religion.'
A) The decline of tobacco prices
B) European demand for colonial goods
C) Religious conflicts in Europe
D) A surplus of indentured servants
Correct Answer: B
The text lists 'abundant land, European demand for colonial goods, and a shortage of indentured servants' as the key causes for participation in the slave trade.
A) Indentured servitude
B) Chattel slavery
C) Mercantilism
D) The headright system
Correct Answer: B
The text describes how 'chattel slavery became dominant' and new laws 'defined the descendants of African American mothers as black and enslaved in perpetuity.' This process of creating laws to define people as property is the codification of chattel slavery.
A) The New England colonies
B) The middle colonies
C) The Chesapeake and southern colonies
D) All colonial regions equally
Correct Answer: C
The text explicitly states, 'The Chesapeake and southern colonies had large numbers of enslaved workers.'
A) only resisted through violent uprisings.
B) found a variety of ways to challenge the system of slavery.
C) rarely engaged in any form of resistance.
D) focused their resistance solely on cultural preservation.
Correct Answer: B
The use of both 'overt' (open, direct) and 'covert' (hidden, subtle) implies a wide range of resistance strategies, from direct confrontation to more subtle acts of defiance and cultural preservation.
A) mercantilist economic theory.
B) the triangular trade route.
C) the headright system of land distribution.
D) the system of indentured servitude.
Correct Answer: D
The concept of being 'enslaved in perpetuity' is a direct contrast to indentured servitude, which was a temporary labor contract for a fixed period of time. The text implies this shift by noting a 'shortage of indentured servants' as a cause for slavery's growth.
A) A widespread philosophical movement promoting racial hierarchy
B) The economic needs created by land availability and market demands
C) The failure of Native American populations to serve as a labor source
D) A religious doctrine that sanctioned the enslavement of non-Christians
Correct Answer: B
Point 3 directly links the participation in the slave trade to economic factors: 'abundant land, European demand for colonial goods, and a shortage of indentured servants.'
A) overt resistance.
B) chattel slavery.
C) covert resistance.
D) cultural assimilation.
Correct Answer: C
This action is a form of hidden or secret ('covert') resistance aimed at maintaining culture and religion, as described in Point 5 of the provided content.
A) encourage the manumission of enslaved people.
B) ensure a permanent and growing enslaved labor force.
C) limit the expansion of slavery into new territories.
D) integrate African culture into colonial society.
Correct Answer: B
By making slavery hereditary ('in perpetuity') through the mother, the system ensured that the children of enslaved women would also be enslaved, thus guaranteeing a self-perpetuating labor force. This is a direct effect of the laws mentioned in Point 4.
A) exclusively passive and cultural.
B) focused solely on large-scale, violent rebellions.
C) multifaceted, including both direct and subtle forms of resistance.
D) largely ineffective in preserving their heritage.
Correct Answer: C
The text mentions that enslaved people developed 'both overt and covert means to resist,' which indicates a multifaceted response that was not limited to one type of action.
A) creation of a legal system based on racial hierarchy.
B) decline in European demand for colonial goods.
C) increase in available land for small farmers.
D) widespread adoption of abolitionist ideas.
Correct Answer: A
The text connects the rise of 'chattel slavery' (Point 4) with the 'shortage of indentured servants' (Point 3) and the creation of 'new laws [that] created a strict racial system.'
A) Slavery was economically insignificant to the British colonies.
B) The system of slavery was uniform and unchanging across all colonies.
C) Economic incentives were a major driver of the Atlantic slave trade's growth.
D) Enslaved Africans made no attempts to preserve their cultural identity.
Correct Answer: C
Point 3 explicitly lists economic factors like 'abundant land' and 'European demand for colonial goods' as reasons why all colonies participated in the slave trade, supporting the idea that economic incentives were a major driver.