Civil War Vocabulary

Civil War Vocabulary

​- Abraham Lincoln​

"A house divided against itself cannot stand."

I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. 

New Terms

• Abraham Lincoln - ​16^th President of the United States. He was president during the Civil War

• ​Confederacy - The group of southern states that started their own country to protect the practice of slavery​

• ​Emancipation Proclamation - Executive order by President Lincoln freeing the slaves in southern states​

• ​Battle of Gettysburg - Bloodiest battle of the Civil War. It was a major victory for the northern army in 1863

• Seceded - the act of separating from something​

Multiple Choice

The Battle of ____________ was the bloodiest battle of the war and a major win for the North (Union) in July 1863.

• Chancellorsville

• Bull Run

• Gettysburg

• Chattanooga

Multiple Choice

The President of the United States during the Civil War was

• Abraham Lincoln

• Andrew Johnson

• James Buchanan

• Franklin Pierce

Multiple Choice

The southern states seceded from the Union to form the ___________

• Aristocracy

• Confederacy

• Municipality

• Bureaucracy

Multiple Choice

Executive order by Lincoln that freed all slaves in southern states

• Abolition Statement

• Freedom Law

• Emancipation Proclamation

• 13th Amendment

Fill in the Blank

Fill in the blank: Throughout the 1800s, Americans were divided about the issue of slavery. When the antislavery president ___________________________________, was elected in 1860, southern states knew it was only a matter of time before slavery was ended in the United States.​

Fill in the Blank

Fill in the blank: To protect the practice of slavery, the southern states seceded from the United States to form their own country. The Confederate States of America, or _______________________,

was founded on March 11, 1861. Lincoln did not want to see the country split into two and so the Civil War between the north and the south began.

Fill in the Blank

Fill in the blank: Most advantages belonged to the north. They had more resources and a larger army. However, they had weak generals and low morale. Many people in the north did not want to die in a war to free southern slaves. Led by the military leader, Robert E. Lee, the Confederate Army had better leadership than the Union army.

The turning point in the war was the _______________________________

In 1863. This was the only battle fought in northern territory. It was a major victory for the northern army. Robert E. Lee would ultimately surrender in Virginia two years later in 1865.

Fill in the Blank

Fill in the blank: What would happen to slaves was still in doubt. Lincoln was still hesitant to make the war about freeing the slaves. In 1863 he issued an executive order to free the slaves in southern states called the ______________________________.

Although this did not free a single slave, it was an important announcement to the country that ending slavery was one of the northern goals for the war. Slavery officially ended with the ratification of the 13th amendment in January 1865.

Open Ended

1)     Why did southern states secede from the country in 1861?

Open Ended

2)     Why was the Emancipation Proclamation important?

Open Ended

3)     Why was northern morale (how they felt about the war) weak?