In his 1976 Study of Slavery in the United States, Herbert Gutman

Reading Passage Question

In his 1976 study of slavery in the United States, Herbert Gutman, like Fogel, Engerman, and Genovese, has rightly stressed the slaves' achievements. But unlike these historians, Gutman gives plantation owners little credit for these achievements. Rather, Gutman argues that one must look to the Black family and the slaves' extended kinship system to understand how crucial achievements, such as the maintenance of cultural heritage and the development of communal consciousness, were possible. His findings compel attention.

Gutman recreates the family and extended kinship structure mainly through ingenious use of what any historian should draw upon, quantifiable data, derived in this case mostly from plantation birth registers. He also uses accounts of ex-slaves to probe the human reality behind his statistics. These sources indicate that the two-parent household predominated in slave quarters just, as it did among freed slaves after emancipation. Although Gutman admits that forced separation by sale was frequent, he shows that the slaves' preference, revealed most clearly on plantations where sale was infrequent, was very much for stable monogamy. In less conclusive fashion Fogel, Engerman, and Genovese had already indicated the predominance of two-parent households; however, only Gutman emphasizes the preference for stable monogamy and points out what stable monogamy meant for the slaves' c~ltural heritage. Gutman argues convincingly that the stability of the Black family encouraged the transmission of-and so was crucial in sustaining- the Black heritage of folklore, music, and religious expression from one generation to another, a heritage that slaves were continually fashioning out of their African and American experiences.

Gutman's examination of other facets of kinship also produces important findings. Gutman discovers that cousins rarely married, an exogamous tendency that contrasted sharply with the endogamy practiced by the plantation owners. This preference for exogamy, Gutman suggests, may have derived from West African rules governing marriage, which, though they differed from one tribal group to another, all involved some kind of prohibition against unions with close kin.' This taboo against cousins' marrying is important, argues Gutman, because it is one of many indications of a strong awareness among slaves of an extended kinship network. The fact that distantly related kin would care for children separated from their families also suggests this awareness. When blood relationships were few, as in newly created plantations in the Southwest, "fictive" kinship arrangements took their place until a new pattern of consanguinity developed. Gutman presents convincing evidence that this extended kinship structure-which he believes developed by the mid-to-late eighteenth century-provided the foundations for the strong communal consciousness that existed among slaves. In sum, Gutman's study is significant because it offers a closely reasoned and original explanation of some of the slaves' achievements, one that correctly emphasizes the resources that slaves themselves possessed.

“In his 1976 study of slavery in the United States, Herbert Gutman” - is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.
This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 4 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

1. According to the passage, Fogel, Engerman, Genovese, and Gutman have done which of the following?

1. Discounted the influence of plantation owners on slaves' achievements.
2. Emphasized the achievements of slaves.
3. Pointed out the prevalence of the two-parent household among slaves.
4. Showed the connection between stable monogamy and slaves' cultural heritage.

(A) I and II only
(B) I and IV only
(C) II and III only
(D) I, III, and IV only
(E) II, III, and IV only

2. With which of the following statements regarding the resources that historians ought to use would the author of the passage be most likely to agree?

(A) Historians ought to make use of written rather than oral accounts.
(B) Historians should rely primarily on birth registers.
(C) Historians should rely exclusively on data that can be quantified.
(D) Historians ought to make use of data that can be quantified.
(E) Historians ought to draw on earlier historical research but they should do so in order to refute it.

3. Which of the following statements about the formation of the Black heritage of folklore, music, and religious expression is best supported by the information presented in the passage?

(A) The heritage was formed primarily out of the experiences of those slaves who attempted to preserve the stability of their families.
(B) The heritage was not formed out of the experiences of those slaves who married their cousins.
(C) The heritage was formed more out of the African than out of the American experiences of slaves.
(D) The heritage was not formed out of the experiences of only a single generation of slaves.
(E) The heritage was formed primarily out of slaves' experiences of interdependence on newly created plantations in the Southwest.

4. It can be inferred from the passage that, of the following, the most probable reason why a historian of slavery might be interested in studying the type of plantations mentioned is that this type would

(A) give the historian access to the most complete plantation birth registers
(B) permit the historian to observe the kinship patterns that had been most popular among West African tribes
(C) provide the historian with evidence concerning the preference of freed slaves for stable monogamy
(D) furnish the historian with the opportunity to discover the kind of marital commitment that slaves themselves chose to have
(E) allow the historian to examine the influence of slaves' preferences on the actions of plantation owners

5. According to the passage, all of the following are true of the West African rules governing marriage mentioned EXCEPT:

(A) The rules were derived from rules governing fictive kinship arrangements.
(B) The rules forbade marriages between close kin.
(C) The rules are mentioned in Herbert Gutman's study.
(D) The rules were not uniform in all respects from one West African tribe to another.
(E) The rules have been considered to be a possible source of slaves' marriage preferences.

6. Which of the following statements concerning the marriage practices of plantation owners during the period of Black slavery in the United States can most logically be inferred from the information in the passage?

(A) These practices began to alter sometime around the mid-eighteenth century.
(B) These practices varied markedly from one region of the country to another.
(C) Plantation owners usually based their choice of marriage partners on economic considerations.
(D) Plantation owners often married earlier than slaves.
(E) Plantation owners often married their cousins.

7. Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?

(A) The author compares and contrasts the work of several historians and then discusses areas for possible new research.
(B) The author presents his thesis, draws on the work of several historians for evidence to support his thesis, and concludes by reiterating his thesis.
(C) The author describes some features of a historical study and then uses those features to put forth his own argument.
(D) The author summarizes a historical study, examines two main arguments from the study, and then shows how the arguments are potentially in conflict with one another.
(E) The author presents the general argument of a historical study, describes the study in more detail, and concludes with a brief judgment of the study's value.

8. Which of the following is the most appropriate title for the passage, based on its content?

(A) The Influence of Herbert Gutman on Historians of Slavery in the United States
(B) Gutman's Explanation of How Slaves Could Maintain a Cultural Heritage and Develop a Communal Consciousness
(C) Slavery in the United States: New Controversy About an Old Subject
(D) The Black Heritage of Folklore, Music, and Religious Expression: Its Growing Influence
(E) The Black Family and Extended Kinship Structure: How They Were Important for the Freed Slave

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