Famous Slaves Trivia Quiz

Answer: Emily West

Also known as Emily West Morgan, she was brought to the colony of Texas by James Morgan. To circumvent the fact that slaves were forbidden there, Morgan turned all of his slaves into 99-year indentured servants. In April 1836 after warning Houston of General Santa Ana's approach, Emily was able to charm the General and help Houston gain a tactical advantage.

She was eventually manumitted and died a free woman.

Answer: Abram Petrovich Gannibal

Born about 1696, Gannibal was brought by Peter I from his native Africa to Russia. His intellect earned him an education in Paris and the occupation of military engineer where he attained the rank of Major-General. He spent some time in a Siberian gulag after Peter's death, but the Empress Elizabeth returned him to favor and he became a prominent figure in her court.

His children by his second wife Christina Regina Sioberg would become ancestors of some British aristocrats as well as the renowned Puskin.

Answer: Callixtus I

While a slave of the banker Carpophorus, Callixtus fell into disfavor after losing some of his master's money and fled. After his re-capture, he was discovered to be a Christian and sentenced to the mines. Through the intercession of the mistress of Emperor Commodus, he was freed and rose rapidly through the church ranks until he was elected Pope in 217. According to tradition, he was martyred in 222 and subsequently canonized as a saint.

Answer: Dred Scott

The case of Dred Scott vs Sandford occurred in 1856. The court's decision that no person of African ancestry could claim U.S. citizenship and could not bring suit to federal court increased tensions between North and South since it allowed slave owners to bring their slaves to non-slave states without jeopardizing their ownership. Dred Scott and his wife Harriet were freed 26 May 1857 and he died of tuberculosis in St. Louis in 1858.

Answer: Aesop

According to what little documented information has been found, Aesop was a slave of Iadmon of Samos who at some point gave him his freedom. He was with Periander at Corinth when he met with the Seven Sages and the reason that he was killed by the inhabitants of Delphi is not known. Most experts believe that Aesop's fables are ultimately a collection of stories from many sources, but his name has survived many generations because of their popularity.

Answer: Nat Turner

Nat was born in 1800 and was given the surname of his owner Samuel Turner. In August 1831, Nat and some of his fellow slaves escaped and went on a bloody rampage in Virgina, freeing slaves and killing the white families. He was captured a few months later and was flayed, hanged and quartered for the murders of the men, women and children that had died during his rebellion. Anxiety that a future rebellion might occur, caused greater repressive measures against the slave population to the extent that the moral issues of slavery could not even be discussed.

Answer: James Somersett

James Somersett was taken to England in the late 1700s by his master Charles Stuart, who worked on behalf of the Crown in Virginia. At that time, an anti-slavery movement was already emerging in England and in 1771 abolitionists helped Somersett to escape.

He was recaptured and sentenced to be sold to the Jamaican plantations but his abolitionist friends prevented his transportation and helped him sue the Crown for his freedom. This judgement applied only in England and Wales. Outlawing the Atlantic slave trade had to wait till 1807, and finally in 1833 the Slavery Abolition Act made slavery illegal in all parts of the British Empire.

Answer: Saint Patrick

Legend has Patrick's birth name as Maewyn Succat. After his escape from slavery, he entered the Roman Catholic church and most scholars place his return to the shores of Ireland at about 433 C.E. After his death around 461, Patrick became the patron saint of Ireland and one of the most famous icons of that island.

Answer: Saint Vincent de Paul

Vincent de Paul was born in France in 1581 and after being ordained a priest was captured by pirates near Marseilles. He spent a number of years as a slave in Tunis but was freed after converting his owner to the Christian faith. His charitable works caused him to be canonized and missions in his name still minister to the poor all over the world.

Answer: Jean-Jacques Dessalines

Dessalines worked as a slave-foreman in the sugar cane fields in what was then the French colony of Saint-Dominigue. He had a prominent role in the uprising in 1791 and eventually the French army surrendered to his forces in December 1803. 1 January 1804 Dessalines declared the colony independent and changed the name to Haiti, the native Arawak name for the area. September 1804 he declared himself Emperor of Haiti and was crowned in an elaborate ceremony.

His declaration that whites could not own property and constant turmoil led to his assassination 17 October 1806, but the national anthem "La Dessalinienne" is in his memory.