Deck 16: The Civil War

Question 1

The "Long Walk" refers to the forced march and imprisonment of which Indian group during the Civil War?

A) Santee Sioux
B) Cherokee Confederate sympathizers
C) Navajo
D) Indian tribes from the Old Southwest who had been removed to Indian territory

Answer 1

Navajo

Question 2

The Homestead Act __________.

A) used land to finance the construction of railroads
B) gave 160 acres of public land to any citizen who would improve it
C) established the federal Department of Agriculture
D) gave state public land to finance land grant colleges

Answer 2

gave 160 acres of public land to any citizen who would improve it

Question 3

Chester, Pennsylvania, was an example of what type of Northern response to mobilization?

A) rapid, patriotic relief system supported by a countywide community
B) ambivalence about the Southern secession and a plan to let them go in peace
C) supporters of the Vallandigham "Peace" Democrats
D) rioting against using black soldiers in the Union Army or freeing slaves

Answer 3

rapid, patriotic relief system supported by a countywide community

Question 4

After the secession of South Carolina, the next crisis Lincoln faced was the __________.

A) loss of New Orleans
B) cutting off of the nation's transport system
C) Southern attack on Harpers Ferry
D) problem of Fort Sumter

Question 5

During the Civil War, the tribes in Indian Territory __________.

A) sided with the Union
B) stayed neutral
C) had their own civil war as they split between Union and Confederacy
D) became a well-disciplined brigade under Stonewall Jackson

Question 6

The Galesburg, Illinois, congregation and various reform groups realized their communities would have to support the government with __________.

A) propaganda efforts
B) supplies and assistance
C) ministers
D) uniforms

Question 7

Lincoln felt that his primary responsibility as president was to __________.

A) free the slaves
B) lead and unify the nation
C) end all claims to states' rights
D) punish the South

Question 8

The Confederate invasion of Maryland was halted by the Union at the battle of __________.

A) Shiloh
B) Antietam
C) Gettysburg
D) Fredericksburg

Question 9

When Lincoln made his call to arms, many Northern communities __________.

A) responded enthusiastically
B) agreed to send money and supplies but not men
C) were ambivalent about joining up
D) rioted against fighting a war to free slaves

Question 10

Lincoln's main diplomatic aim was to __________.

A) keep England and France from supporting the Confederacy
B) persuade Spain to join the war on the Union side
C) get Britain to sell arms to the Union
D) support French control of Mexico

Question 11

Abraham Lincoln's cabinet included several men who __________.

A) had been his rivals for the 1860 presidential nomination
B) were staunch Democrats
C) supported the expansion of slavery in the West
D) had close ties to the Liberty Party

Question 12

The Confederate draft law exempted __________.

A) all those who owned no slaves
B) owners of twenty or more slaves
C) the oldest male in any family
D) all males over 25

Question 13

Union victories at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, Shiloh, and Vicksburg successfully achieved what Union war goal?

A) to cut off the Confederate states west of the Mississippi
B) to obtain stored-up cotton from Southern docks
C) to seize the resource-rich Lower South
D) to isolate South Carolina

Question 14

The 54th Massachusetts Infantry protested the discrimination and unequal pay in the army by __________.

A) going AWOL
B) going on a hunger strike
C) marching on Washington
D) refusing pay until they were treated equally

Question 15

What major step toward centralization of economic power in the hands of the federal government took place during the Civil War?

A) withdrawal of all Treasury notes
B) creation of unemployment insurance
C) imposition of government controls on wages and prices
D) switch to a national currency

Question 16

The first major battle of the Civil War after the attack on Fort Sumter was fought at __________.

A) Antietam
B) Bull Run
C) Shiloh
D) Chattanooga

Question 17

Initially, the Union's strategy was to __________.

A) overwhelm the South with its better-trained army
B) fight a limited war by strangling the South with a blockade
C) select certain targets and attack with small guerrilla forces
D) lure the South into invading the North

Question 18

The most damaging factor undermining the Confederate cause was __________.

A) illiteracy among common soldiers
B) the dictatorial powers of the government
C) strong beliefs in states' rights
D) a lack of experienced officers

Question 19

When the new Confederate government issued its call to arms, __________.

A) men flocked to enlist
B) slaves began to escape in record numbers
C) most poor whites refused to answer
D) many Southerners were ambivalent about joining up

Question 20

The decision of four slave states to stay within the Union __________.

A) caused Lincoln to legalize slavery in all Northern states
B) negated the Confederate argument that they were forced to secede to protect the right to own slaves
C) was welcome to the North but caused all kinds of legal problems for the government
D) negated the Northern argument that they were fighting to free the slaves

Question 21

After Lee's defeat at __________, a Confederate victory grew increasingly unlikely.

A) Shiloh
B) Gettysburg
C) Chancellorsville
D) Atlanta

Question 22

What did the term "contraband" mean to Union commanders?

A) escaped slaves reaching Union lines
B) any Southern property produced by slave labor
C) civilian property not offered for sale to the army
D) British arms sold to the Confederacy

Question 23

Why was nursing seen as more of a break with prewar tradition for southern women than for their northern counterparts?

A) Southern women had to scale back on their previous activities in various reform movements.
B) Southern women had been less active in public life before the Civil War.
C) Southern women lacked prior experience within a family context in caring for the sick and wounded.
D) Southern women had never worked side by side with African American nurses and doctors before the war.

Question 24

Grant's victory at Vicksburg combined with which admiral's capture of New Orleans gave the North control of the Mississippi River?

A) George McClellan
B) Don Carlos Buell
C) David Farragut
D) Henry H. Sibley

Question 25

Riots in the Confederate states were mainly caused by __________.

A) inequities of the draft and urban tensions
B) shortages of food and high inflation rates
C) ideological disputes
D) the draft exemption for wealthy slave owners

Question 26

The New York City draft riots led to the deaths of more than a hundred people, many of them __________.

A) poor Irish immigrants
B) Union recruiting officers
C) African Americans
D) wealthy draft dodgers

Question 27

During the war, Lincoln played a role most similar to which earlier president who also assumed responsibility for overall military strategy?

A) Washington
B) Jefferson
C) Polk
D) Buchanan

Question 28

By giving Confederate troops parole after Lee's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, General Grant guaranteed that they __________.

A) were permanently exiled to living in the former Confederate states
B) would lose their personal land holdings
C) would automatically regain U.S. citizenship
D) could not be tried for treason

Question 29

The Battle of Glorieta Pass was significant for preventing Confederate control of __________.

A) the border states
B) Indian Territory
C) the Potomac River
D) the Trans-Mississippi West

Question 30

The Confederacy actively sought Indian support by offering __________.

A) to return their lands in Georgia
B) Indian representation in the Confederate Congress
C) to grant them full and equal citizenship
D) to resettle them in Kansas after the Confederacy won

Question 31

As the war dragged on, many in both the North and the South began to see it as __________.

A) pointless
B) a war to end all wars
C) "a rich man's war but a poor man's fight"
D) an epic moral battle

Question 32

When Lincoln gave Grant command of all Union forces, he was adopting a policy of __________.

A) offering the Confederacy easy terms for peace
B) forcing the Confederacy to surrender to escape total destruction
C) avoiding decisive battles at all cost
D) preventing civilian casualties

Question 33

The notorious Copperhead exiled to the South by Lincoln was __________.

A) William Seward
B) Clement Vallandigham
C) George McClellan
D) Henry Sibley

Question 34

Grant gained control of the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers with the capture of __________.

A) Fort Henry and Fort Donelson
B) Pea Ridge and Glorieta Pass
C) Memphis and Vicksburg
D) Cairo and Shiloh

Question 35

Sherman's march to Savannah was primarily designed to __________.

A) make it easier for slaves from the Deep South to escape
B) cut off Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama from the rest of the Confederacy
C) destroy Confederate coastal ports
D) obtain stored cotton for the industrial mills of the North

Question 36

The second Confederate draft was controversial because __________.

A) German mercenaries were hired
B) rich men were able to get out of serving more easily than before
C) mercenaries were hired from Latin America
D) it included blacks

Question 37

Lincoln's reelection in 1864 was helped considerably by what event in September 1864?

A) the Emancipation Proclamation
B) the fall of Atlanta
C) the Fort Pillow Massacre
D) the capture of Savannah

Question 38

"Government girls" referred to women who were __________.

A) Confederate nurses
B) clerks in the Union Department of War
C) widows and orphans
D) workers in the Confederate bureaucracy

Question 39

Lincoln kept Maryland in the Union __________.

A) with military force and the arrests of pro-Confederate officials
B) by exempting Marylanders from the draft
C) with little difficulty D by carefully respecting Marylanders' civil rights

Question 40

McClellan's 1862 Peninsular campaign failed largely because __________.

A) Lee retreated and refused to fight
B) McClellan avoided battle in hopes of forcing a Confederate surrender
C) Lincoln denied McClellan sufficient troops
D) Lee burned Richmond to prevent it falling into Union hands

Question 41

How did Southern supporters of secession see their position after the election of Abraham Lincoln? How were many of their viewpoints similar to those of the Union? Why did they believe that they had no choice but to secede?

Question 42

While Civil War battles in the East are often more familiar to people, many historians argue that the Civil War was won in the West. Evaluate that argument.

Question 43

The initial Northern strategy was dubbed by critics the __________ Plan.

A) Peninsular
B) Copperhead
C) Ironclad
D) Anaconda

Question 44

What forced Lincoln to adopt a policy to end slavery?

A) his conscience
B) military necessity
C) Northern public opinion
D) diplomatic pressure

Question 45

Which statement accurately describes both the North and the South in the spring of 1861?

A) They were unprepared for war.
B) They faced a shortage of manpower.
C) They faced a shortage of industrial production.
D) They faced significant political opposition within their central government.

Question 46

What constitutional amendment completed the process begun by the Emancipation Proclamation?

A) Twelfth Amendment
B) Thirteenth Amendment
C) Fourteenth Amendment
D) Fifteenth Amendment

Question 47

What substantial advantage did the North have over the South at the beginning of the war?

A) its superior industrial capacity
B) its superior military leadership
C) its ability to fight a defensive war
D) the absence of slavery in the North

Question 48

Why did General Joseph Hooker attack Robert E. Lee's army at Chancellorsville in May 1863?

A) He was trying to break the stalemate in northern Virginia.
B) The attack was an attempt to gain control of the Mississippi River.
C) His goal was to win a victory that would sway public opinion.
D) He wanted to demonstrate the effectiveness of new weapons.

Question 49

What impact did the First Battle of Bull Run have on the North?

A) It shattered the North's illusions that the war would be easily won.
B) It reinforced the North's confidence in its military.
C) It led Northerners to question President Lincoln's military expertise.
D) It reinforced the North's belief in the value of its superior industrial capacity.

Question 50

Control of Kentucky was important to the Union because Kentucky __________.

A) controlled the Ohio River
B) was crucial to Union food supplies
C) controlled routes through the Appalachian Mountains
D) sat astride the National Road

Question 51

What percentage of soldiers who fought in the Civil War never returned home?

A) 25 percent
B) 10 percent
C) 5 percent
D) 40 percent

Question 52

Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not actually free the slaves, what effects did it have?

Question 53

Almost all Civil War generals, on both sides, were committed to the __________.

A) notion that modern circumstances demanded total warfare
B) need to innovate in the face of new military technology
C) use of small independent bands of cavalry
D) conventional military doctrine of massed infantry offensives

Question 54

What was one of the effects of the battle of Fort Sumter?

A) Four additional slave states left the Union.
B) Lincoln declared martial law in Charleston.
C) Lincoln refused to allow the Union troops to abandon the fort, which resulted in a bloody battle.
D) Lincoln ordered an amphibious invasion of Charleston.

Question 55

The population of which of these states was deeply divided over support for the Union?

A) Delaware
B) Maryland
C) Massachusetts
D) Connecticut

Question 56

After the fall of Fort Sumter, Lincoln called up the state militias, ordered a naval blockade of the South, and __________.

A) imposed a curfew on all large cities
B) suspended all forthcoming elections
C) cut taxes across the board
D) vastly expanded the military budget

Question 57

What challenges did Jefferson Davis face as he tried to form a new government and mobilize the South for war?

Question 58

How did the Emancipation Proclamation affect slavery in the border states?

A) Slaves in these states automatically became free when the proclamation went into effect at the beginning of 1863.
B) These states were exempt from this proclamation and allowed to keep their slaves.
C) Slaves in the border states were gradually emancipated over a period of two years.
D) Slave owners living in these states were immediately compensated for their slaves' freedom.

Question 59

During the Civil War, what problem did people on the home front face in both the North and the South?

A) inflation
B) unemployment
C) food shortages
D) limited access to imports

Question 60

Discuss the involvement of women, both North and South, in the Civil War.

Question 61

What did the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution do?

A) abolish slavery
B) provide full civil rights for African Americans
C) allow African Americans to vote
D) allow African Americans and women to vote

Question 62

Why did Jefferson Davis have so much difficulty securing power for the national Confederate government?

A) Most Southerners strongly believed in states' rights.
B) Many Southerners were not supportive of the war effort.
C) Nonslaveholders refused to support his leadership.
D) Very few Southerners wanted to serve in the new government.

Question 63

Why did the Union initially pursue a strategy of limited war?

A) to attempt to convince the South to rejoin the Union
B) to gain the support of European allies
C) to appease northern opponents of the war
D) to minimize casualties

Question 64

What was a "Copperhead" during the Civil War?

A) a northern Democrat who opposed the war
B) a northern Republican who supported the war
C) a Southerner who opposed the war
D) a Southerner who supported the war

Question 65

Why was President Lincoln slow to move toward a policy of emancipation?

A) He worried about losing the support of the border states.
B) He personally opposed it.
C) He had no authority to institute such a policy.
D) The North was winning the war without emancipation.

Question 66

Which of these prompted most of Lincoln's early actions during the war?

A) military necessity
B) partisan politics
C) economic necessity
D) public opinion

Question 67

Why was the Emancipation Proclamation significant?

A) It made ending slavery part of the northern war aims.
B) It freed all American slaves.
C) It abolished slavery in the border states.
D) It caused an uprising within the Union army.

Question 68

Which of these statements about Civil War casualties is true?

A) Twice as many men died from disease as died in battle.
B) Machine guns made mass charges suicidal.
C) Both sides had well-staffed and equipped medical corps.
D) Advances in medicine kept death rates lower than they otherwise would have been.

Question 69

Why did President Lincoln move away from the Anaconda Plan?

A) public pressure and impatience for Union victories
B) the entry of Britain into the conflict
C) losses in the midterm elections
D) poor military leadership

Question 70

Jefferson Davis tried to ________ the war effort.

A) micromanage
B) delegate all responsibility for
C) make idealism the guiding principle of
D) undermine

Question 71

Why was military service particularly dangerous for blacks?

A) Southern troops refused to recognize captured black troops as prisoners of war.
B) Northern troops often treated their black comrades violently.
C) Black soldiers were routinely thrown into the most dangerous situations.
D) Black soldiers were not immune to many of the diseases prevalent in military camps.

Question 72

What caused the July 1863 riots in New York City?

A) opposition to the Union draft
B) lack of food supplies for civilians
C) protests in opposition to black emancipation
D) hostility toward Abraham Lincoln due to his declaration of martial law and imprisonment of war protestors

Question 73

Why did President Lincoln jail opponents of the war?

A) He feared secession of the Northwest.
B) He feared Republican electoral defeats.
C) He believed political opposition was damaging the Union army.
D) He believed they would plan uprisings throughout the North.

Question 74

What southern weapon turned out to be less powerful than expected?

A) cotton diplomacy
B) superior military leadership
C) the South's defensive war strategy
D) the unified population of the South

Question 75

How did slaves "vote with their feet"?

A) by running away behind Union lines
B) by launching slave insurrections
C) by refusing to work
D) by fighting for the Union army

Question 76

Why were poor Southerners disillusioned by the Confederate conscription policy?

A) It contained loopholes that allowed slaveholders to avoid service and wealthy men to hire substitutes to fight in their place.
B) It did not require slaveholders to register for the draft.
C) It weighted the process to make it more likely that men from the Lower South would be drafted.
D) It did not allow for the conscription of slaves.

Question 77

Why was there so much opposition by both the Union and the Confederacy to having women serve as army nurses during the initial stages of the Civil War?

A) Nursing was perceived as an unsuitable profession for respectable women.
B) Women had little experience caring for people who had been struck by disease.
C) Nursing did not pay enough for a single woman to make a decent living.
D) Neither side had organized sanitary commissions to oversee nurses' work on the battlefield and in military hospitals.

Question 78

Which of these was clear by the end of 1862?

A) The South could be defeated only by invading southern territory and gaining control of the Mississippi River.
B) The Anaconda Plan would succeed.
C) The war would end within a few months.
D) The South had no hope of victory.

Question 79

What was Union General George McClellan's military objective in the Peninsular campaign of 1862?

A) to capture Richmond, the Confederate capital, and bring the war to an end
B) to defend Washington, D.C., from a Confederate invasion
C) to force Confederate General Robert E. Lee to retreat into Virginia after his invasion of Maryland
D) to gain control of Virginia's seacoast and blockade its ports

Question 80

Why did the Union's naval blockade become more successful as the war progressed?

A) The Union navy grew larger.
B) Ironclads blockaded all major Southern ports.
C) The number of Confederate blockade runners declined.
D) European nations began to honor the blockade.