Deck 20: Girding for War: the North and the South

Question 1

The greatest weakness of the South during the Civil War was its

A) military leadership.
B) navy.
C) system of slavery.
D) economy.
E) inability to conduct offensive warfare.

Answer 1

economy.

Question 2

The Union eventually found talented high-level officers

A) by turning to the top graduates of West Point.
B) drawing on the best products of its reserve officer training program.
C) by bringing in veteran Indian-fighters from the West.
D) by promoting generals with strong political connections.
E) through a costly process of trial and error.

Answer 2

through a costly process of trial and error.

Question 3

The South believed that Britain would come to its aid because

A) ordinary British people would sympathize with its fight for independence.
B) British Canada was strongly hostile to the Union.
C) the British recognized the economic need for slavery.
D) the government had refused to allow Uncle Tom's Cabin to be sold within the British Empire.
E) Britain was economically dependent on Southern cotton.

Answer 3

Britain was economically dependent on Southern cotton.

Question 4

The importance of the Border States became even greater when ____ was added to their number in 1861.

A) Nevada
B) Kansas
C) Delaware
D) West Virginia
E) Tennessee

Question 5

Much of the hunger experienced by Confederate soldiers in the Civil War was due to

A) poor agricultural production.
B) the Union naval blockade.
C) assaults on the South's rickety transportation system.
D) the fact that slaves abandoned the plantations.
E) profiteering by army suppliers and middlemen.

Question 6

To achieve its independence, the Confederacy had to

A) invade the Union.
B) win a decisive military victory on its own soil.
C) fight the invading Union army to a draw.
D) disrupt the northern economy.
E) capture Washington, D.C.

Question 7

In order to persuade the Border States to remain in the Union, President Lincoln

A) emphasized the fact that he had been born in Kentucky.
B) declared that he would make the war a fight against slavery.
C) guaranteed that they could keep slavery permanently.
D) promised not to deploy federal troops on their territory.
E) declared martial law where needed.

Question 8

As the Civil War began, the South had the advantage of

A) more talented political leaders.
B) more talented military leaders.
C) superior industrial capabilities.
D) greater manpower.
E) a stronger navy.

Question 9

Northern soldiers eventually became known for their

A) discipline and determination.
B) unwillingness to charge fixed Confederate lines.
C) lack of proper training.
D) high-pitched battle yell.
E) love of military pomp and hierarchy.

Question 10

Which of the following is not among the "might-have-beens" that could have enabled the South to win the Civil War?

A) The South might have outdistanced the North in industrial production.
B) Britain or France might have broken the Union naval blockade.
C) The Border States might have seceded.
D) Several Midwestern states might have turned against the war.
E) A wave of Northern defeatist sentiment might have demanded peace.

Question 11

During the Civil War, Britain and the United States were nearly provoked into war by

A) the incompetence of Charles Francis Adams, the United States ambassador to London.
B) British merchant ships' evasion of the Union naval blockade.
C) the Trent affair, involving the removal of Southern diplomats from a British ship.
D) Napoleon III's effort to place Maximilian on the Mexican throne.
E) British working class support for the South.

Question 12

During the Civil War, most of the Five Civilized Tribes in the Indian Territory of present-day Oklahoma

A) supported the Confederacy.
B) supported the Union.
C) tried to remain neutral.
D) took advantage of the opportunity to reassert their independence.
E) sought admission as a Confederate state.

Question 13

The European great powers welcomed a civil war in the United States for all of the following reasons except

A) war would weaken the power of the United States in the western hemisphere.
B) a divided America would likely put a halt to European immigration.
C) they could play the two nations off against one another in a game of balance of power.
D) their existing colonies would be safe against further American expansion.
E) they might more readily seize new colonial territory in the Americas.

Question 14

A supposed asset for the South at the beginning of the Civil War that never materialized to its real advantage was

A) effective military leadership.
B) intervention from Britain and France.
C) the fighting skill of Southern males.
D) its ability to fight on its own soil.
E) its belief that it was defending its way of life.

Question 15

Lincoln's initial declaration that the North fought only to preserve the Union and not to abolish slavery

A) came as a disappointment to most northerners.
B) was made essentially to keep the Border States in the Union.
C) was understood as politically necessary by most abolitionists.
D) contradicted the campaign promises of the Republican party.
E) cost him support in the "Butternut region" of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.

Question 16

The North's greatest strength in the Civil War was its

A) ethnic unity.
B) military leadership.
C) navy.
D) moral commitment to antislavery.
E) economy.

Question 17

An enormous manpower contribution during the Civil War came from

A) poor southern whites who went north to fight for the Union.
B) German and Irish immigrants who fought for the Confederacy.
C) Plains Indians who fought for the Union.
D) northerners who fought for the Confederate army.
E) soldiers from the loyal slave states who fought for the Union.

Question 18

In 1861, many Northerners were willing to let the Southern states leave the Union until

A) the Confederates began burning the American flag.
B) the South attacked Fort Sumter.
C) Robert E.Lee was named to head the potential new nation's army.
D) South Carolina seceded from the United States.
E) Virginia and Tennessee joined the seceding states.

Question 19

President Lincoln's approach to what to do about the situation at Fort Sumter in the first weeks of his administration can best be characterized as

A) belligerent.
B) ambiguous.
C) manipulative.
D) weak.
E) cautious.

Question 20

Confederate batteries fired on Fort Sumter when they learned that

A) Lincoln had ordered the fort reinforced with federal troops.
B) Lincoln had ordered supplies sent to the fort.
C) the Union commander was planning to evacuate his troops secretly from the fort.
D) Lincoln had called for seventy-five thousand volunteers for the Union army.
E) southern support for secession was weakening.

Question 21

As leader of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis

A) enjoyed deep personal popularity despite the South's military struggles.
B) displayed good administrative skill and judgment.
C) was able to shape the Confederate Congress and public opinion.
D) eloquently articulated southern ideals.
E) defied rather than was led by public opinion.

Question 22

The Confederate navy's most effective commerce raider was the

A) Monitor.
B) Merrimack.
C) Trent.
D) Virginia.
E) Alabama.

Question 23

Northern advantages at the outset of the Civil War included

A) control of the seas.
B) more banks, factories, railroads, and people.
C) interior lines of military operation.
D) a young male population prepared for military service.
E) better military leadership.

Question 24

During the Civil War, women in the North

A) demanded to serve in the Union army.
B) worked on farms but not in factories.
C) were largely restricted to the clothing industry.
D) found new opportunities in industry and nursing.
E) agitated for the vote.

Question 25

As president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis was unable to mobilize the strong power wielded by Abraham Lincoln because

A) of the Confederacy's constitutional emphasis on states' rights.
B) he lacked an effective army and military leadership.
C) he was constantly threatened with impeachment by the Confederate Congress.
D) Davis had a humorous and easy-going personality.
E) of the constant bickering within his cabinet.

Question 26

The Confederate navy's commerce-raiders such as the Alabama

A) were largely a nuisance to northern merchant shipping.
B) proved devastatingly effective against Union shipping.
C) depended on their ability to use French and British ports.
D) had little effect on American naval strategy.
E) operated mostly off the Atlantic coast.

Question 27

The Southern cause was weakened by

A) the concept of states' rights that the Confederacy professed.
B) President Jefferson Davis's constant catering to public opinion.
C) the southerners' own doubts about the cause of Southern independence.
D) a lack of sound military leadership.
E) the constant threat of slave rebellion.

Question 28

America's minister to Britain, during the Civil War, under President Lincoln was

A) Charles Francis Adams.
B) William H.Seward.
C) Jefferson Davis.
D) Edwin M.Stanton.
E) Clara Barton.

Question 29

To fill the army's demand for troops, prior to 1863, the North relied mainly on

A) the draft.
B) bounty brokers.
C) foreign mercenaries.
D) volunteers.
E) the militia (National Guard).

Question 30

Abraham Lincoln was able to overcome his political problems more readily than Jefferson Davis because he

A) headed a long-established and fully recognized government.
B) had strong political support from Britain and France.
C) enjoyed unified political support in the North.
D) whipped his Cabinet into line behind his policies.
E) had more extensive administrative experience.

Question 31

During the Civil War, the Union

A) launched a new national banking system.
B) lowered tariff rates.
C) imposed a 10 percent tax surcharge on agricultural products.
D) experienced runaway inflation.
E) was plagued by unstable banks.

Question 32

Napoleon III's installation of Archduke Maximilian on the Mexican throne was a clear violation of

A) French neutrality.
B) Mexican revolutionary principles.
C) American warnings.
D) the Monroe Doctrine.
E) Pan-American treaties.

Question 33

As a result of the Civil War, the Northern economy

A) became more dependent on international trade.
B) saw industrial profits improve but agricultural profits fall.
C) was notable for its honest and fair business practices.
D) experienced considerable unemployment despite military manpower demands.
E) greatly expanded its industrial and technological productivity.

Question 34

The Border slave states that remained loyal to the Union were

A) Kentucky.
B) Missouri.
C) Maryland
D) Oklahoma.
E) Delaware.

Question 35

The Union's establishment of the National Banking System

A) allowed the United States to officially abandon the gold standard for its money.
B) guaranteed that all U.S.money would be in gold or silver.
C) evolved into the third Bank of the United States.
D) served only as an emergency measure during the Civil War.
E) led to creating a standard bank-note currency.

Question 36

A new industry that came into its own during the Civil War was

A) textile manufacturing.
B) the petroleum industry.
C) wheat farming.
D) foreign shipping.
E) steel manufacturing.

Question 37

In "Honest Abe" Lincoln's attempts to preserve the Union, he did all of the following questionable actions as president except

A) proclaim a blockade of the Southern ports.
B) increase the size of the federal army.
C) suspend the writ of habeus corpus.
D) advance federal funds to private citizens without authorization.
E) refuse to implement a draft, or conscription law, during the war.

Question 38

The states that joined the Confederacy after the firing on Fort Sumter were

A) Virginia.
B) North Carolina.
C) Missouri.
D) Tennessee.
E) Arkansas.

Question 39

For both the North and the South,

A) the goal of stopping raids on their merchant shipping was critical.
B) skilled diplomacy enabled them to achieve their key objectives.
C) Britain or France's diplomatic recognition of the Confederacy would have been a critical factor.
D) the intervention of Mexico or Canada on the side of their enemy would have spelled defeat.
E) it was important to adhere to the letter and spirit of international law.

Question 40

France abandoned its attempt to control Mexico

A) because the French working class opposed the effort.
B) when the British pressured them to leave.
C) when it decided not to recognize the Confederacy.
D) because the Mexicans declared independence.
E) because the United States threatened to send its army against the French in Mexico.

Question 41

In what ways was the economic and social impact of the war similar in both North and South, and it what ways was it different?

Question 42

Like the North during the Civil War, the South

A) exempted the wealthy from military service.
B) experienced a high rate of desertion.
C) relied mainly on volunteer enlistments.
D) drafted men into military service.
E) used black soldiers.

Question 43

It has been said that the South's devotion to states' rights was a major reason for its failure to win the Civil War.In what way is this probably true?

Question 44

At the outset of the Civil War, which side was more likely to win? Is it more accurate to say that Union's strengths won the war, or that Confederate weaknesses caused it to lose?

Question 45

Assess the validity of the following statement, "the Civil War was really a rich man's war and a poor man's fight."

Question 46

The historians Charles and Mary Beard saw the Civil War as a "Second American Revolution" that marked the triumph of industrial capitalism over agrarian feudalism.Is this a persuasive interpretation of the war? Does it account accurately for the importance of nationalism and slavery in the war's causes and effects?

Question 47

Explain why Britain finally decided against intervention on behalf of the Confederacy.In what ways was Britain helpful to the South anyway?

Question 48

"King Cotton" failed the South as a tool of wartime diplomacy because

A) Britain held surpluses of cotton when the war began.
B) textile workers in Britain favored the North.
C) the North sent captured cotton to Britain.
D) Britain developed alternative supplies of cotton in Egypt and India.
E) the cotton crop was devastated by the boll weevil.

Question 49

To what extent was President Lincoln justified in his violations of ordinary civil liberties during the Civil War?

Question 50

Was Lincoln's initial policy of declaring that the Civil War was being fought only to save the Union, and not to free the slaves, a wise one? What might have happened had he announced a war for emancipation from the start?

Question 51

The Confederate navy's commerce-raiders

A) harassed the ports of New York and Boston.
B) dealt a devastating blow to the Union's merchant marine.
C) effectively fought off the Union navy.
D) helped to undermine the Union blockade until near the end of the war.
E) were almost all built in Britain.

Question 52

To help pay for the Civil War, both the North and the South

A) raised taxes.
B) printed paper currency.
C) sold bonds.
D) imposed high protective tariffs.
E) imposed a national income tax.

Question 53

When confronted with Southern secession in 1861, why didn't Lincoln simply allow the South to separate in peace?

Question 54

Assess the validity of the following statement, "In some ways the South was a more militarily prepared and militarily oriented society than the North, but the North eventually manage to compensate for these advantages on the battlefield."

Question 55

President Lincoln proved a more effective wartime leader than Jefferson Davis because

A) he was more experienced.
B) he enjoyed the benefits of an established and stable government.
C) he was able to inspire and lead public opinion.
D) he used humor and practiced charity towards his opponents.
E) he was more skilled in managing the details of military operations.