Download Study Guide for Civil War Test

Civil War Study Guide 2015
GROUP ONE: The Eve of the War
Election of 1860, Secession, and Lincoln's First Inaugural Address
1. What were the platforms of the various parties involved in the election
(What were their political goals? What did they believe about slavery?)
2. How did the split platform of the Democratic party lead to Lincoln's victory
in 1860? What does the difference between the popular vote and the
Electoral College vote say about Lincoln's victory?
3. What is secession? Why did the southern states begin to secede from the
Union after Lincoln’s election?
4. What were Lincoln’s goals in his first inaugural address? How did he achieve
the goals? (Be able to cite specific language/passages.)
5. How did Lincoln try to unify the country with this speech? How did he
address the Border States? (What are the Border States? Why are they
strategically and politically important?) How did Lincoln address the South—
or the states in secession?
6. Does Lincoln appeal to abolitionists and/or Free Soilers in the speech? How
so?
7. What, in Lincoln’s view, is his job as President? What rules must he follow?
How does Lincoln interpret the Constitution? What does he understand
about the Constitution’s relationship to slavery?
(Remember from prior to the group presentations):
Fort Sumter
What happened?
What was Lincoln’s dilemma?
How did the public, or various parts of the public, react to the firing on Ft. Sumter?
How does Fort Sumter fit into the timeline of Lincoln's election and the secession of
the initial seven and ultimately eleven southern states that secede to form the
Confederate States of America?
GROUP TWO: The War Begins In Earnest
Bull Run, Antietam, and the Emancipation Proclamation
1. What are the North's goals at the start of the War? Why do they rush into the
battle of Bull Run? What happens in the battle?
2. What were the nation's expectations about the war before the battle of Bull
Run? How does the battle differ from those expectations, and what does the
nature of the battle foreshadow?
3. What happens between the battle of Bull Run and the Battle of Antietam?
Briefly, explain the Northern and Southern strategies for the war.
4. What is significant militarily an/or strategically about the Battle of Antietam?
5. Why does Lincoln issue the Emancipation Proclamation after the battle of
Antietam?
6. How is the Proclamation a strategic maneuver rather than a moral action?
7. Who is freed by the Proclamation and why?
8. How and why does Lincoln factor the border states into the Proclamation?
9. How is the Proclamation a step toward justice? How is the Proclamation
insufficient as a step toward justice? (See the last paragraph.)
10. Why does Lincoln believe he has the power to issue the Proclamation? What
argument does he use to issue the Proclamation?
11. What is the meaning behind Lincoln’s urging “people so declared to be free to
abstain from violence… [and to] labor faithfully for reasonable wages.” Who
is this message for? What is the subtext of this message?
GROUP THREE: 1863 As The Turning Point
Vicksburg, Gettysburg, and the Gettysburg Address
1. Where is Vicksburg, and why is its location important? Think in geographic
and economic terms.
2. What impact does the North's victory at Vicksburg have upon the larger war?
3. Where is Gettysburg, and how is its location important? Think in terms of the
South's strategy.
4. Why do historians argue that Gettysburg was a turning point in the war? Be
specific about the reasons—think about the battle as a military turning point
and the speech as a symbolic turning point, and how those two are related.
5. Who were the two most important generals at Gettysburg (one for the Union
and one for the Confederacy), and what is each remembered for? How were
those generals perceived before and after the battle?
6. What specific language in the Gettysburg Address changes the meaning of the
war? How does Lincoln accomplish this without mentioning the word
“slavery”?
7. How does Lincoln alter the meaning of the Declaration of Independence?
8. Who is the "we" in Lincoln's speech?
GROUP FOUR: The Dawning of Inevitability
Sherman's March, Growing Southern Desperation, The Election of 1864,
Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, and Lee's Surrender at Appomattox
1. What tactics did General Sherman use that were new to the Civil War?
2. What cities did Sherman capture? When? How is the geographical location of
these cities significant?
3. What impact did Sherman's successes have upon the election of 1864?
4. Who was Lincoln's vice presidential running mate in the election of 1864,
and what did that shift from Hannibal Hamlin say about Lincoln's goals for
after the war?
5. Who was Lincoln's opponent in the election of 1864, and what platform did
he run on?
6. What was one of the most significant voting blocs that supported Lincoln in
the election?
7. What are the key ideas in Lincoln's speech?
8. How is Lincoln's second inaugural address similar to/different from his first
inaugural address and his Gettysburg address?
9. When and where does General Lee surrender? In what ways were the terms
Grant offered generous, and how does that set a potential tone for later
Reconstruction?
GROUP FIVE: What Happens Next?
Lincoln's Assassination, The Reconstruction Amendments, and Reconstruction
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Where, when, how, and by whom is Lincoln assassinated?
How does the nation react to Lincoln's death?
What happened to the conspirators and has assassin?
What changes to the Constitution do the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments
make?
When were these amendments ratified? What proportion of the state
legislatures' approval was required in order to ratify the amendment?
What were some of the limitations of these amendments, in terms of how
they were written and in terms of how they were enforced in the South?
What were some of the challenges that freed slaves faced after the Civil War?
How did the version of Reconstruction implemented by the largely
Republican Congress differ from Lincoln's vision of Reconstruction?