Deck 13: Transforming Fire: The Civil War, 1860-1865

Question 1

After the secession of South Carolina, which of the following arguments was advanced by Southern extremists?

A) Those who favor compromise do not have the best interests of the South at heart and are traitors to the Southern cause.
B) All Southern states should follow South Carolina's lead and prepare to attack the North and take the Western territories by force.
C) Other Southern states should not be influenced by South Carolina's decision and must make their own independent decisions regarding whether or not to withdraw from the Union.
D) Even those who favor compromise should support secession because a better deal can be made by negotiating from outside rather than inside the Union.

Answer 1

Even those who favor compromise should support secession because a better deal can be made by negotiating from outside rather than inside the Union.

Question 2

As a result of the fall of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, ________________.

A) Union forces gained control of the entire Mississippi River
B) a path into Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi lay open before the Union Army
C) the last Confederate outposts in the far West fell to Union forces
D) New Orleans fell to Union troops

Answer 2

a path into Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi lay open before the Union Army

Question 3

What was the goal or agenda of the "Anaconda plan"?

A) Confederate Blockade of Northern ports
B) Union Blockade of Southern ports
C) Confederate Blockade of Eastern Ports
D) Union Blockade of Western Ports

Answer 3

Union Blockade of Southern ports

Question 4

The dilemma facing Lincoln when he entered the presidency was:

A) How to maintain the authority of the federal government without provoking war with the states that had seceded
B) Whether to recognize the Confederacy as an independent, sovereign nation
C) How to work with a Congress controlled by Democrats
D) Whether to seek gradual or immediate emancipation of the slaves

Question 5

Jefferson Davis believed that in order to win the war, the Confederacy would have to:

A) Convince the border states to join the Confederacy
B) Move toward a centralization of power
C) Industrialize
D) Convince nonslaveowning whites to join the all-volunteer Confederate army

Question 6

Jefferson Davis's goal in the 1862 general offense he ordered against the North was to ________________.

A) seize and operate Northern iron works and thereby procure better arms for Confederate forces
B) convince the invaded states to conclude a separate peace with the Confederacy
C) stop the flow of Northern troops into the South
D) capture Cincinnati and halt the flow of trade on the Ohio River

Question 7

Which of the following statements most closely articulates the beliefs of Confederate nationalism?

A) The Confederacy will stand as the bastion of direct democracy throughout the world.
B) The Republic was built on the concept of the dignity of labor, and that is the cause for which the Confederacy fights.
C) Opposition to centralized power is the true legacy of the American Revolution, and that is the cause for which the Confederacy fights.
D) All people should be equal under the law, and that is the cause for which the Confederacy fights.

Question 8

Where is Fort Sumter located, the place where the first shots of Civil War were fired?

A) Washington, D.C.
B) Georgia
C) Charleston Harbor, South Carolina
D) Charleston Harbor, North Carolina

Question 9

President-elect Lincoln decided to stand firm against the extension of slavery into the territories. Which of the following was a reason for that decision?

A) He believed that a compromise would destroy any chance of fulfilling his stated objective of abolishing slavery in the southern states.
B) He hoped to effect a compromise after his inauguration.
C) He believed that accepting a compromise would break the bond of faith between himself and those who had voted for him.
D) He wanted to force the South to secede from the Union.

Question 10

When and where was the Democratic Party split?

A) At the 1860 convention in Charleston, South Carolina
B) At the 1864 convention in Charleston, Georgia
C) At the 1868 convention in Charleston, South Carolina
D) At its 1856 convention in Charleston, South Carolina

Question 11

Which party was formed in 1860 to preserve the nation but was strong only in the Upper South, and nominated John Bell of Tennessee?

A) Constitutional Union Party
B) Democratic Party
C) Republican Party
D) Libertarian Party

Question 12

Which of the following was a consequence of the battles of Elkhorn Tavern and Honey Springs, Arkansas?

A) Confederate forces gained control of the Arkansas River, giving them a water route into the Western territories.
B) After suffering defeat at the hands of a powerful alliance of Indian tribes, Union forces withdrew from the region.
C) Union forces lost control over the portion of the Mississippi River that marked the boundary between Arkansas and Tennessee.
D) The Confederacy lost control of the region, and its operations in Indian Territory were reduced to guerrilla raids.

Question 13

In the American West, the Civil War marked the beginning of __________________.

A) the lucrative mining of gold in California
B) prolonged warfare against Indian peoples in the region
C) cotton production in Arizona
D) an enduring alliance between the United States government and the Pueblo tribe

Question 14

The Northern naval blockade of Southern ports was ________________.

A) nonexistent until the final year of the war
B) weak at first but increasingly effective as the war continued
C) never strong enough to have a significant effect
D) effective from its start in choking off goods going into the South

Question 15

As a consequence of the Battle of Shiloh, ________________.

A) General Grant realized that a complete conquest of the South would be necessary to preserve the Union
B) Lincoln gave command of Union forces to General Ulysses S. Grant, replacing General George McClellan
C) General Robert E. Lee suggested that President Davis open peace negotiations with the Union
D) McClellan's forces were forced to retreat to the Potomac, thus saving the Confederate capital at Richmond

Question 16

In 1860, Abraham Lincoln won election as president with _________________.

A) a majority of both popular and electoral votes
B) a majority of popular votes and less than a majority of electoral votes
C) less than a majority of both popular and electoral votes
D) less than a majority of popular votes and a majority of electoral votes

Question 17

Which of the following battles ended attempts by the Confederacy to take the New Mexico Territory?

A) The Battle for the Cimarron
B) The Battles of Fort Yuma
C) The Battles at Glorieta Pass
D) The Battle of Shiloh

Question 18

What was the date Major Robert Anderson surrendered Fort Sumter and the Civil War began?

A) April 4, 1861
B) April 18, 1861
C) April 14, 1861
D) April 24, 1861

Question 19

In conducting the Civil War, the Confederate Congress:

A) Refused to allow conscription into the Confederate army
B) "Nationalized" all industry in the Confederate states
C) Adopted a hands-off policy in relation to the Southern economy
D) Passed laws giving the centralized Confederate government almost full control of railroads in Confederate states

Question 20

Which two ironclad ships were burned by Union forces?

A) USS Monitor and CSS Virgina
B) USS Green Bay and CSS Virgina
C) USS Monitor and USS Green Bay
D) USS Farragut and USS Green Bay

Question 21

Northern women made up most of the volunteers who ran the thousands of auxiliaries of this organization during the Civil War.

A) The American Red Cross
B) Daughters of the Union
C) The U.S. Public Information Agency
D) The U.S. Sanitary Commission

Question 22

Creation of the national banking system led to ________________.

A) increased flexibility in the money supply
B) a sounder, more dependable currency
C) a more complicated monetary system
D) a banking system responsive to local needs, irrespective of region

Question 23

Which of the following was true of the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad during the Civil War?

A) Not only did they receive large loans from the federal government, they also received millions of acres of land.
B) The two corporations were plagued by worker unrest and strikes.
C) Due to lack of funds, they were forced to halt the laying of track that would have provided a link between Omaha, Nebraska and Sacramento, California.
D) The two railroad corporations were unable to agree on a standard track gauge, which prevented the creation of a unified transportation system.

Question 24

Which of the following is true of the Emancipation Proclamation?

A) It was denounced by many as being clearly unconstitutional.
B) It was issued by Lincoln on the basis of his powers as commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
C) It barely passed Congress over the bitter opposition of virtually all Democrats.
D) It passed Congress with overwhelming support from both Republicans and Democrats.

Question 25

Women such as Dorothea Dix, Mary Ann Bickerdyke, and Clara Barton _______________.

A) advanced the professionalization of nursing during the Civil War
B) gained the respect and admiration of the male-dominated medical profession for their work as nurses during the course of the Civil War
C) received official recognition from President Lincoln for their service to the Union cause
D) pioneered the way for the acceptance of women as physicians by being among the first of their gender to attend medical school

Question 26

While serving as a volunteer nurse in Washington, D.C., Walt Whitman:

A) Made official complaints to Congress about the discriminatory treatment of African American soldiers in U.S. Army hospitals
B) Wrote of the lack of skill and absence of compassion of Army surgeons
C) Gained inspiration from the courage and sacrifice of the common soldier
D) Spoke of the outstanding performance of women in the Army Nursing Corps

Question 27

Which of the following led to a year-long investigation by the House of Representatives during the Civil War?

A) It was discovered that leading peace Democrats in the Senate had given top secret information to the Confederacy.
B) The press revealed that the Secretary of State had ignored Confederate overtures for peace negotiations.
C) There were rumors of war profiteering by contractors who sold inferior merchandise to the government at inflated prices.
D) It was learned that the Secretary of War had received kickbacks from government contractors.

Question 28

During the Civil War, the North differed from the South in which of the following economic respects?

A) Agricultural production increased in the South; Northern agricultural production plummeted.
B) The South became poorer; the North remained prosperous.
C) The South's industry expanded a little; all Northern industries experienced unprecedented growth.
D) The South experienced severe inflation; Northern prices remained stable.

Question 29

During the Civil War, Congress enacted legislation that ____________________.

A) led to the creation of land-grant colleges
B) lowered tariff rates
C) imposed the first tax on income
D) established federal agencies to regulate industry

Question 30

Which of the following is true concerning Confederate military supplies?

A) By 1865, the Confederacy had to depend on blockade runners to obtain the small arms and ammunition it needed to conduct the war.
B) By 1865, the Confederacy was manufacturing all of its small arms and ammunition.
C) In 1864, the Union naval blockade caused such severe weapon shortages that the Confederacy was forced to furlough troops.
D) Throughout the war, the Confederacy obtained weapons from northern manufacturers eager to profit from the war.

Question 31

Which of the following led to official condemnation of the Confederate Congress by the North Carolina legislature and increased class anger within the Confederacy?

A) The decision to allow upper-class women to work as schoolteachers
B) Exemption from military duty of anyone supervising twenty slaves or more
C) The legal requirement that all able-bodied males over the age of sixteen serve in the Confederate Army
D) The low wages paid to those working in the Confederate bureaucracy

Question 32

During the Civil War, substantial numbers of wealthy Southerners avoided military service by ___________.

A) bribing draft board officials
B) volunteering as nurses and orderlies in Confederate hospitals
C) furnishing a hired substitute
D) relocating to England for the duration of the conflict

Question 33

Early in the war, Jefferson Davis tried to rally Southerners to the Confederate cause by _____________.

A) telling them that they were fighting for constitutional liberty
B) hinting that the Confederate government was considering a bonus of two slaves for all nonslaveholding soldiers
C) emphasizing the importance of maintaining the slave system
D) calling for a redistribution of land to help landless Southern whites

Question 34

During the Civil War, Congress and the Treasury Department:

A) Outlawed the issuance of bank notes by state banks
B) Created a national banking system with the authority to issue national bank notes
C) Established the Independent Treasury System
D) Reformed the national banking system to insure its responsiveness to local needs, irrespective of region

Question 35

Which of the following was a reason for Lincoln's avoidance of the issue of slavery early in the war?

A) Officials in the border states coerced Lincoln into remaining silent on the issue.
B) Lincoln wanted Republican Party officials to accept a leadership position on the issue of slavery.
C) Because all Northerners saw slavery as a moral outrage, Lincoln saw no reason to deal with the issue.
D) Bringing up the issue would have destroyed any chance of a pro-Union majority asserting itself in the South.

Question 36

During the course of the Civil War, the Confederacy

A) never experienced food shortages since all available land was used for growing staple crops such as wheat, corn, and rice.
B) established food distribution centers for its citizens.
C) was beleaguered by severe inflation.
D) successfully raised war revenue by imposing direct taxes on land and slaves.

Question 37

Name the former Union general who, in 1864, became commanding general of the United States Army.

A) Irvin McDowell
B) George McClellan
C) Robert Anderson
D) Ulysses Grant

Question 38

Northern industrial workers during the Civil War _________________________.

A) found that their pay did not keep up with inflation
B) suffered from high unemployment
C) enjoyed unprecedented prosperity
D) experienced genuine job security for the first time

Question 39

The Civil War caused which of the following effects in the North?

A) Mechanization of agriculture slowed.
B) Food shortages frequently led to urban riots.
C) The shift to mechanized agriculture accelerated.
D) New railroad construction increased.

Question 40

As indicated in his response to Horace Greeley's call for emancipation, Abraham Lincoln's primary goal was to _____________.

A) win re-election in 1864
B) punish Confederate officials
C) guarantee equality for freed slaves
D) save the Union

Question 41

Ordinary soldiers on the Civil War battlefield:

A) Were not as committed to ideology as their generals
B) Often wrote home of the glories of battle
C) Were ordered to maintain strict hygiene as a rule
D) Had to contend with the threats of a new rifle technology

Question 42

As president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis:

A) Put forward plans for the emancipation of slave soldiers during the last months of the war
B) Failed to appreciate the need to centralize power in the South
C) Drew his most enthusiastic support from the common white people of the South
D) Enjoyed strong backing from most Southerners until the last few weeks of the war

Question 43

Of the following, what most challenged the Confederacy's economy during the war period?

A) Lack of industry
B) Shortage of labor
C) Lack of natural resources
D) Internal problems caused by the class system of the South

Question 44

During the final two years of the Civil War, it became obvious that Southern planters ____________.

A) were willing to accept momentous changes in their lives in order to bolster the Confederate war effort
B) recognized that the idea of states' rights had been a casualty of the war
C) were the only element left in the South that still supported the Confederate government
D) were more committed to their own selfish interests than to the creation of an independent Southern nation

Question 45

Which of the following is true of the Emancipation Proclamation?

A) It freed all slaves in the South immediately.
B) It freed slaves in the North and the South.
C) It freed slaves only in the border states and the Western territories.
D) It freed slaves only in those areas in which the federal government exercised no control.

Question 46

The results of the Confederate congressional elections of 1863 indicate that:

A) Dissatisfaction with the war was growing in the South
B) Southerners were still overwhelmingly committed to the war
C) The South had developed a successful two-party system
D) Public confidence in Jefferson Davis remained high

Question 47

Which battle gave the Union complete control of the Mississippi River?

A) The Battle of Atlanta
B) The Battle of Chancellorsville
C) The Battle of Gettysburg
D) The Battle of Vicksburg

Question 48

On the eve of the 1864 Republican national convention, Lincoln urged the inclusion of which of the following in the party platform?

A) A detailed plan for the readmission of the Southern states to the Union
B) A promise that the Republicans would seek a negotiated settlement with the South
C) A plank calling for the adoption of a constitutional amendment prohibiting slavery
D) A plank calling for legislation to extend the right to vote to African Americans

Question 49

What caused the highest proportion of Union deaths during the Civil War?

A) Bullet wounds
B) Hand-to-hand bayonet combat
C) Unsanitary surgical equipment
D) Disease and accidents

Question 50

Northern Democrats leveled which of the following charges against the Republican government during the war years?

A) The Republicans are too concerned with abiding by the Constitution to prosecute the war successfully.
B) The Republicans are not willing to extend government aid to Northern business interests.
C) Republican policies extend aid to farmers but ignore the plight of urban laborers.
D) Republican policies are designed to flood the North with blacks.

Question 51

Both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis would have agreed with which of the following statements?

A) War requires active presidential leadership.
B) The legislative branch of the government works best without executive leadership.
C) A nation's domestic affairs are handled most efficiently when power is decentralized.
D) A president is bound by the same constitutional restrictions in war as he is in peace.

Question 52

As a result of this incident in November 1864, U.S. troops massacred over 100 Cheyenne tribesmen, women, and children.

A) The Sand Creek Massacre
B) The Massacre at Wounded Knee
C) The Thompkin's Ferry Massacre
D) The Washita Massacre

Question 53

As a result of the Battle of Chancellorsville, _________________.

A) the Emancipation Proclamation was signed
B) the tide of the war shifted temporarily in favor of the South
C) the Union gained control over the Mississippi River
D) Stonewall Jackson was mistakenly killed by Confederate troops

Question 54

Abraham Lincoln, unlike Jefferson Davis, ______________________.

A) did not become emotionally involved in the war effort
B) always consulted with Congress before making major decisions
C) refused to use his emergency war powers to suspend basic constitutional rights
D) knew how to stay in touch with the common people

Question 55

Which of the following is true of desertions from the Confederate army?

A) The army was suffering a high rate of desertion by 1863, and the problem continued to worsen.
B) The army was plagued by a high rate of desertion from the beginning of the war.
C) The army began experiencing significant desertions only in the last few months of the war.
D) The army never had the desertion problem experienced by the Northern army because Southerners were so fervently committed to their cause.

Question 56

Jefferson Davis _____________________.

A) communicated better with the common people than with members of his own class
B) was a hero and role model for all classes of Southerners
C) was a masterful war leader
D) was never able to reach out to the masses or understand their suffering and lost the support of the common people

Question 57

One of the factors contributing to the 1863 New York City riots was:

A) Anti-black sentiment on the part of white working-class New Yorkers
B) The long delay in implementing emancipation
C) The exemption of Irish immigrants from the draft
D) The passage of heavy new taxes to finance the war

Question 58

Which of the following was a feature common to both the Confederate draft and the Union draft?

A) Both were instituted only after approval in a referendum.
B) Both exempted the owners of large amounts of land from service.
C) Both allowed the hiring of substitutes.
D) Both exempted young men enrolled in colleges and universities.

Question 59

What represented an end to major Southern offensive operations?

A) Grant's seizure of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson
B) The defeat of Lee's forces at Gettysburg
C) Lee's defeat in the Seven Days Battles
D) The defeat of Confederate forces in the Battle of Chancellorsville

Question 60

Which of the following was a consequence of the Emancipation Proclamation?

A) Thousands of former slaves joined the Union army.
B) The Confederacy was able to secure a much-needed loan from Holland.
C) Great Britain decided to recognize the Confederacy.
D) Several Southern states decided to abandon the Confederacy and signed a separate peace with the Union.

Question 61

Examine the social, political, and economic impact of the Civil War on the South and its people.

Question 62

Examine Abraham Lincoln's position on the issue of slavery, and trace its evolution over time. What were the major changes in Lincoln's position, and what were the principal reasons for those changes? What impact did Lincoln's decisions on the slavery question have on the Union and its war effort?

Question 63

Explain the emergence of antiwar sentiment, dissent, and disorder in the Confederacy during the final two years of the Civil War. What impact did this development have on the Confederate war effort?

Question 64

Compare and contrast Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis as war leaders.

Question 65

Examine the relationship between the federal government and northern business interests during the Civil War.

Question 66

Discuss Jefferson Davis's approach to the question of slavery during the course of the Civil War. What impact did Davis's decisions on the slavery question have on the Confederacy and its war effort?

Question 67

The Union army's march to the sea through Georgia under General Sherman was notable because:

A) The Northern soldiers engaged in an orgy of rape and murder of civilians
B) It ended with Sherman's army bogged down in trench warfare much like what was to come in the First World War
C) The soldiers inflicted total destruction on the land and its economic resources
D) The army foolishly blundered into several Confederate ambushes and suffered needlessly heavy casualties

Question 68

Examine the social, political, and economic impact of the Civil War on the North and its people.

Question 69

During the months preceding the election of 1864, Abraham Lincoln ______________________.

A) feared that war-weariness among Northerners would lead to his defeat
B) considered jailing several Democratic leaders until the election was over
C) attempted to win the Democratic nomination as well as the Republican nomination
D) devoted himself to electing Republicans to Congress because he felt certain he would be re-elected

Question 70

Examine the fragmentation of the political party system in 1860; explain the stands of the presidential candidates on the major issues; and discuss the results of the 1860 presidential election.

Question 71

Discuss the strategy used by southern extremists to destroy the Union. Why was this strategy successful? What do election returns for delegates to secession conventions reveal about the nature and extent of the opposition to secession in the South?

Question 72

Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the northern economy during the course of the Civil War, and examine the war's economic impact on northern society, the northern people, and on northern urban and industrial workers.

Question 73

Discuss how and why the Civil War changed southern government in concept and practice, and discuss the reaction of the southern people to these changes. Pay particular attention to the impact of the Civil War on the South's idea of "state sovereignty."

Question 74

Discuss the course of the Civil War from its inception in the spring of 1861 through the battle of Antietam in the fall of 1862, and assess the strengths and weaknesses of the two combatants in late 1862.

Question 75

Explain the emergence and nature of antiwar sentiment, dissent, and disorder in the North during the Civil War. How did President Lincoln react to opposition to the war? What impact did opposition to the war have on the Union war effort?

Question 76

Defend the following statement: "Northern society embraced strangely contradictory tendencies. Materialism and greed flourished alongside idealism, religious conviction, and self-sacrifice."

Question 77

In his campaign against the Navajos, Kit Carson _____________________.

A) adopted a conciliatory approach that resulted in a Navajo alliance with the Union
B) met with such determined resistance that he withdrew Union troops from the New Mexico Territory
C) was victorious largely as the result of an alliance he forged with the Mescalero Apaches
D) adopted a scorched earth policy

Question 78

Discuss the contest between Union and Confederate forces in the New Mexico Territory, and examine the war against Indians in the Great Plains and Far West.

Question 79

Examine the impact of the Civil War on northern and southern women.

Question 80

Analyze the Emancipation Proclamation in light of the following thesis statement: "As a moral and legal document the Emancipation Proclamation was wanting, but as a political document it was nearly flawless."