Deck 8: Civil War Reconstruction

Question 1

Which of the following best describes the South's military strategy entering the Civil War?

A) They did not have to defeat the Union but rather wait until the North tired of the fight.
B) A quick war was their only chance at defeating the Union.
C) Securing the assistance of Great Britain, without which the war would be lost.
D) Through sheer determination and military expertise the South was destined to win.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

How was the Confederate constitution similar to the Articles of Confederation?

A) both limited the central government's authority
B) both identified a commander-in-chief of the military
C) neither mentioned a chain of command during war
D) both assisted the federal government over a weak system of State's rights

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The so-called Anaconda Plan of Winfield Scott consisted of all of the following, EXCEPT

A) a quick thrust to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond.
B) a naval blockade of the South.
C) invasions down the inland rivers.
D) slowly suffocating the Confederacy.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

All of the following exerted a significant influence on Civil War battlefield tactics, EXCEPT

A) solid shot.
B) Spencer, Sharps and Henry repeating rifles.
C) rifled muskets.
D) rifled artillery.

Question 5

How did conscription emphasize class inequality in both the Union and the Confederacy?

A) exemption policies allowed the wealthy to escape the draft
B) African Americans were forced into military service
C) Irish immigrants were often chosen as engineers
D) the cavalry was reserved for the wealthiest individuals

Question 6

How did the Emancipation Proclamation change society?

A) It changed the conditions of the war and led to increasing demands by African Americans to serve in Union army.
B) It freed slaves in the border states throughout the Confederacy.
C) It led Britain to remain neutral in the affair.
D) It forced the Confederacy to consider ending slavery in order to preserve its independence.

Question 7

Historians agree that Lee was never the same after the loss of whom?

A) Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson
B) James Longstreet
C) A. P. Hill
D) George Pickett

Question 8

Where exactly was the Western Theater?

A) from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River
B) from the Blue Ridge Mountain to the Missouri River
C) from the Rocky Mountains to California
D) from the Mississippi River to the Colorado

Question 9

Why did Grant have to take the important river port at Vicksburg, MS?

A) to gain control of the Mississippi River
B) to gain control of the Tennessee River
C) to gain control of Fort Donelson
D) to gain control of Wilson's Creek

Question 10

Who was Lincoln's Secretary of the Navy?

A) David Porter
B) Gideon Wells
C) Samuel F. DuPont
D) David Farragut

Question 11

How did the Confederate raider Alabama finally meet its demise?

A) Despite over fifty successful missions, it was finally sunk by the Union in the Chesapeake bay.
B) It was no longer seaworthy after engaging the ironclad USS Monitor.
C) It was sunk by the USS Kearsarge off Cherbourg in France.
D) It was replaced by the commerce raider Shenandoah which was never captured.

Question 12

Why is Sherman's march to the sea marked with controversy?

A) He waged total war on the people of the South.
B) His actions led to the immediate death of thousands of Confederates.
C) He liberated all slaves that he encountered.
D) He did not engage the enemy as he believed that peace was eminent.

Question 13

Where did the final surrender of Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee take place?

A) Appomattox Courthouse
B) Richmond
C) Petersburg
D) Lynchburg

Question 14

Who commanded the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands?

A) Oliver O. Howard
B) U.S. Grant
C) William T. Sherman
D) Philip H. Sheridan

Question 15

How did the political compromise of 1877 affect race relations in the South?

A) Regional bipartisanship was reached at the expense of civil rights in the South.
B) Radical republicans continued to punish the old Southern aristocracy and assist the freedmen.
C) Although the Democrats received the presidency, the South had to grant rights to African Americans.
D) Although the Democrats received the presidency, the South had to grant rights to African Americans.

Question 16

What were the long-term and proximate causes of the American Civil War? Were any of these issues capable of solution without conflict? Why or why not?

Question 17

What strategy did the Confederacy need to adhere to in order to succeed in the Civil War?

Question 18

What expectations did both sides have at the outset of the Civil War? How did changes in military technology resulting from the Mexican War influences expectations of the outcome of the Civil War on both sides?

Question 19

What were Lincoln's initial views on how to crush the rebellion? How did these change over the first two years of the conflict?

Question 20

Why is George McClellan so controversial a figure in the history of the American Civil War? What was his contribution to the Union war effort?

Question 21

Why did Lee with previously established Confederate strategy invade the North in 1862?

Question 22

What was so significant about the fall of Vicksburg both materially and as a propaganda victory?

Question 23

How did the U.S. Navy contribute to the Union war effort?

Question 24

How was Grant's approach to the prosecution of the war different than those of his predecessors? What did his approach to war do to the tempo of operations?

Question 25

How were the armies of both sides organized? What techniques were utilized in order to supply the manpower necessary to field the massive numbers needed by the war? Which side was more successful in implementing these techniques? Why?