Civil War Practice Questions Part I.

The Test on the Civil War is this Friday, April 27th.  Here are some practice questions to help get you prepared for the exam.  Be sure to come to class tomorrow with questions for the review.




1.  What was Abraham Lincoln's view of slavery in 1860?




2.  Who ran for President in 1860?




3. Explain how Lincoln was able to win the Presidential election of 1860 without winning a majority of the U.S. votes.




4. How did Southerners justify secession?




5. What was the first state to secede from the Union?




6. Why was Fort Sumter attacked?




7. What was the "Anaconda Plan"?




8. What were the Southern advantages in the early days of the Civil War?




9. What were the Northern advantages in the early days of the Civil War?




Important Fact: Not every slave holding state left the Union.  Missouri, Delaware,  Maryland, and Kentucky remained with the Union.  Several counties in Virginia left Virginia during the Civil War and formed their own state, West Virginia.  West Virginia remained loyal to the Union.




10. What is a Confederacy?  How did this government create problems for the Southern states?   

H.W. Questions

Please read pages 592-599 in the textbook, then answer the following questions.


1. Who were the "copperheads"?

2. What is habeas corpus?  Why did Lincoln suspend this right during the Civil War?

3. Who was excluded from the Southern draft? How did this upset some Southerners?

4. What did the Civil War do to the Southern economy?

5. Who was General William Tecumseh Sherman?

6. Who was General George Meade?

7. Define total war?

8. How did the capture of Savannah help Lincoln win his re-election?

9. What General won the Battle of Vicksburg?

10. What was the Confederate Capital?

11. What happened at Appomattox Courthouse?

The Gettysburg Address

Tonight for homework read and markup the Gettysburg Address and answer the seven questions on the speech.

This link will be very helpful tool to use when reading the speech.

The Battle of Antietam

By September of 1862, General Robert E. Lee had successfully thwarted the Union army's attempts of capturing the Confederate capital of Richmond. His tactics had proven to be unbeatable and his victories had left Abraham Lincoln frustrated with the Union commanders. Confederate President Jefferson Davis encouraged Lee to gain a victory in Union Territory to further weaken Northern morale and have the North agree to a ceasefire. Davis believed that a major Confederate victory would guarantee French or British military support for the Confederacy.

Two Union soldiers discovered Robert E. Lee's battle plans wrapped in cigars and presented the plans to the Union commander General McClellan. McClellan waited 18 hours before acting on this information and lost the opportunity to decisively defeat Lee's forces.

McClellan's forces consisted of 75,000 men and were opposing Robert E. Lee's 38,000 man army. The Battle of Antietam is the single bloodiest day in U.S. History, with over 23,000 men killed. The Union Victory at Antietam bolstered Northern morale and gave Abraham Lincoln a decisive victory over the Confederacy.

After the victory, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, altering the course of the war and giving the Union a new course.

For Homework Tonight:

Finish Reading the Handout on the Emancipation Proclamation and complete the chart and questions on the page.

In addition, please answer the following questions:

1. According to the Emancipation Proclamation who is now free? (Be specific)

2. What is Abraham Lincoln hoping the newly freed slaves would do?

3. What did Abraham Lincoln ask the freed slaves to do? What could they join?

3. What does Lincoln ask the freed slaves to do? What could they join?

Early Troubles for the Union

In 1861, General Winfield Scott designed a plan to defeat the Confederate forces. Scott did not believe that the war could be won quickly, so he designed a plan that would slowly but surely bring an end to the war. The plan called for a naval blockade of all Southern ports, cutting the South off from money and supplies from Great Britain. The second part of the plan, had the Union army take over the Mississippi River, isolating Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas from the rest of the Confederacy. This plan became known as the Anaconda Plan.

While Scott's plan was being carried out by Lincoln, many had hoped the war would end much quicker. To achieve that goal, Lincoln wanted the Confederate capital of Richmond to be taken. Lincoln promoted General George B. McClellan (Little Mac) to command the U.S. military. McClellan led a large Union force into Northern Virginia hoping to capture Richmond.

For seven days Robert E. Lee and George B. McClellan engaged in six battles outside Richmond. The Seven Days Battle may have an unoriginal name but when the week was up, McClellan and his army limped out of northern Virginia back to Washington D.C. Lincoln then orders General John Pope to try and take Richmond. Pope is a highly ambitious soldier and takes bold chances on the battlefield. McClellan writes in his journal that Pope would be "trashed. "Pope tells his troops, "let us look before us and not behind. Success and glory are in the advance." Little Mac is right. Pope and his men get badly beaten at the Second Battle of Bull Run.

As the Union army is being defeated by Robert E. Lee, the popularity of the war in North is fading past. Lincoln meets with his Secretary of War, Edward Stanton and his Sec. of State William Seward and discuss the situation. Lincoln wants to issue an proclamation to free the slaves in the Confederate held territory. Such a proclamation would cause damage to the Southern economy. Lincoln can not issue the proclamation following an Union defeat. If he did then it would make the north look desperate to win. The President needed a victory.

Victory would arrive courtesy of a box of cigars. Union troops in Maryland discover battle plans for General Robert E. Lee's forces wrapped in a cigar box. The Confederate government ordered Lee to head north and try to earn a victory on Union controlled land. The South hoped that a Confederate victory on Union controlled land would have the U.S. government call for an end to hostilities.

With Lee's plans, McClellan knows where the Confederate forces are heading. The two armies meet near Antietam Creek in Maryland. The fighting lasts for several hours and both sides suffer heavy casualties. In one day of fighting 12,500 Union soldiers and 13,700 Confederate troops would die. Lee knew that his army was badly beaten and needed to return to Virginia for supplies and rest. McClellan was given the opportunity to peruse Robert E. Lee but hesitates. McClellan's hesitation would lead to his dismissal by Abraham Lincoln who ordered that Little Mac, "destroy the rebel army is possible."

Antietam remains the bloodiest day in American history. From this battle though, Lincoln has the victory that he needs to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. This document inspires slaves to flee their owners when they hear that a Union army is nearby, giving hope to millions.

For H.W. please finish the Civil War map that was classwork.

Thank you

The Election of 1860

This political cartoon appeared in 1861 criticizing the Presidency of James Buchanan. The cartoon shows the symbol of the U.S. , an eagle looking proud and distinguished in 1857, the year Buchanan would take office. By 1861, the year he was to leave the eagle is in tatters, a shadow of its former self.

Buchanan, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, is considered by most historians as being the worst President of the United States. His critics point out that he made many compromises to Southern States while in office and looked the other way during the Dred Scott Case and Bleeding Kansas. His own party would be in shambles over the issue of slavery and choose not to nominate him for re-election when his term expired.

The election of 1860, is one of the most crucial turning points in U.S. history. The outcome would lead to the dissolution of the Union and change the course of history.

The Democratic Party was in shambles in 1860. During the National Convention in Charleston South Carolina the Democrats failed to nominate a candidate to run for office. Fights broke out in the meeting hall and many Southern leaders call on a protest of the Convention. The Democratic leaders decided to halt the nomination process and to meet again in two weeks in Baltimore. Several delegates refused to attend the second convention and nominated John C. Breckinridge to be the Democratic Nominee for President. When the Convention ended in Baltimore, Stephen F. Douglas from Illinois was chosen to run for President. The Democrats had two candidates running for President, Douglas from the North and Breckinridge from the South.

The Republican Convention took place in Chicago and was much more unified then the Democrats. William Seward the Senator from New York seemed to be the front-runner to earn the nomination for President. However, many Republicans felt that he was too strongly opposed to slavery and that might lose him some votes in the Border States. On the third ballot, Abraham Lincoln from Illinois was chosen to be the Republican nominee for President because of his moderate stance on slavery.

A third party ran on the ballot for President. John Bell from Tennessee ran on the Constitutional Union Party ticket. Bell was for slavery and hoped to keep the Union together.

Douglas became the first Presidential Candidate to campaign across the nation. He spoke in both the North and South, trying to appeal to Americans to keep the nation together. Although he knew that he would not gain many votes in the South, he hoped to reach out to those who lived in Southern cities and to immigrant groups.

The Democrats hoped to block Lincoln from gaining enough votes in the Electoral College so the vote would be decided by the House of Representatives where they had control.

Despite the fact that Lincoln did not appear on the ballot on some states he won both the popular vote and the Electoral College. Douglas was second in the popular vote but only won the state of Missouri. Both Breckinridge and Bell did well in the South, but neither gained enough votes in the Electoral College to challenge Lincoln. If Lincoln ran against only one other candidate then the Democrats would have had a stronger chance of defeating him.

Practice Questions and H.W.

The homework for tonight is to finish the day's classwork: Reading pages 566-571 in the textbook and completing the Identification on p. 571. On Thursday there is a quiz on the Road to the Civil War. In addition to organizing your binder, I want you to work on these practice questions to get ready.

Which of the following was from a slave state?

A. Charles Sumner B. Stephen Douglas

C. John C. Calhoun D. Daniel Webster

Which of the following territories was open to slavery under popular sovereignty?

A. Louisiana B. New Mexico

C. Missouri D. Kentucky

Who sponsored the Kansas-Nebraska Act?

A. William Seward B. John C. Calhoun

C. Henry Clay D. Stephen Douglas

Which of the following was a vocal opponent to slavery?

A. William Seward B. John C. Calhoun

C. Preston Brooks D. Henry Clay

Who was the author/sponsor of the Missouri Compromise?

A. Charles Sumner B. Henry Clay

C. Daniel Webster D. John C. Calhoun

Define Popular Sovereignty:

Explain why some people living in Northern States states saw John Brown as a hero. How did people in the South respond to this praise?

What were three questions that the Supreme Court was trying to answer in the Dred Scott Case? What was the Court's Rulings?