Civil War

Use the information below to answer the following question:

… In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to “preserve, protect, and defend it.” …— President Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861

President Lincoln made this statement in an effort to...

• urge Congress to spend money to buy the freedom of slaves.

• persuade Americans that war between the North and South was unavoidable.

• offer to compromise his position regarding territorial expansion of slavery.

• convince Southerners that he posed no threat to their way of life.

Use the chart below to answer the following question:

Which generalization is supported by the information in the chart?

• The South exported more manufactured goods than the North.

• The North would have more difficulty supplying an army than the South.

• The North had greater economic strength than the South.

• The South would be better able to transport an army than the North.

Why did the Siege of Vicksburg affect the balance of power during the Civil War?

• Several important Confederate generals were killed.

• Union troops were pushed back across the Ohio River.

• The Confederacy was divided in half.​

• Severe casualties were inflicted on Union forces.

Use the information below to answer the following question:

“…that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

-Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address

Based on the excerpt above, ​which of the following best summarizes the meaning of President Abraham Lincoln’s words?

• that states’ rights are important to maintain in a democracy

• that each state has the right to determine its own government

• that restoring the Union is a necessity

• that each state should have the right to vote on the slavery issue

The 13th U.S. Colored Troops, a unit of the Union army, lost almost 40% of its men in the Battle of Nashville but won an important victory there for the Union.

Which of the following statements would also accurately describe the significance of the 13th U.S. Colored Troops?

• The unit was made up mostly of former slaves.

• The unit was the only majority African American unit in the Union army.

• The unit was commanded by the Union army's only African American general.

• The unit was punished by President Lincoln for having such a high rate of casualties.

Use the information below to answer the following question:

"At length the morning dawned. Our line was drawn up on one side of Perryville, the Yankee army on the other. The two enemies that were soon to meet in deadly embrace seemed to be eyeing each other...About 12 o’clock, while we were marching through a corn field, in which the corn had been shocked, they opened their war dogs upon us. The beginning of the end had come…from one end of the line to the other seemed to be a solid sheet of blazing smoke and fire...I cannot tell the one-half, or even remember at this late date, the scenes of blood and suffering that I witnessed on the battlefield of Perryville. But its history, like all the balance, has gone into the history of the war, and it has been twenty years ago, and I write entirely from memory."

-Private Sam Watkins, Confederate Army, First Tennessee Regiment, Company H, at the Battle of Perryville

Based on the excerpt above, what would be the most logical reason why Sam Watkins is able to so accurately describe the action at the Battle of Perryville twenty years later?

• Friends and fellow soldiers told him of their own experiences and this helped him remember.

• The killing and the violence was so bad that he does not need anything to help him remember.

• He used newspaper articles describing the battle to help him remember.

• He had taken notes during the battle and used the notes to help him remember.

Which statement best describes the reason for Abraham Lincoln's victory in the presidential election of 1860?

• He opposed the spread of slavery to the new western territories.

• The democratic vote was split between two different candidates.

• He did not appear on the ballot in many southern states.

• John Bell spoiled the election by being a candidate from a new political party.

Which of the following statements best summarizes the reasons for the outbreak of war between the Northern and Southern states?

• Significant economic and cultural differences

• Strong arguments for and against the use of tariffs

• Differing opinions regarding the existence of the national bank

• Interference from Great Britain in American politics

Who was the lead general commanding the Confederate forces?

• George B. McClellan

• Ulysses S. Grant

• William T. Sherman

• Robert E. Lee

Though far from a decisive victory, the success of the Union army at Antietam prompted President Abraham Lincoln to do which of the following?

• Abolish slavery with a Constitutional amendment

• Issue the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation

• Provide Federal funding for the Underground Railroad

• Promote George McClellan to Lieutenant General