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Study Island-Civil War
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Generation Date: 12/07/2012
Generated By: Jerry Edwards
1. Following Lincoln's election, seven Southern states seceded from the Union and
formed the Confederate States of America. Shortly thereafter, four more states joined
the secession.
One reason these states seceded from the Union was that they
A. feared Lincoln would abolish slavery.
B. did not think Lincoln had really won the election.
C. wanted to create a place where all people were free.
D. thought Northerners would migrate south.
2. In 1854, Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which allowed the territories of Kansas
and Nebraska to decide on the legalization of slavery based on a popular vote. This decision was
a victory for those who were in favor of states' rights. The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed parts
of which previous decision?
A. the Compromise of 1850
B. the Fugitive Slave Act
C. the Monroe Doctrine
D. the Missouri Compromise
3. Today, society sees slavery as a moral issue. During the antebellum era, how did the South
mainly view slavery?
A. as a geographic issue
B. as a demographic issue
C. as an economic issue
D. as a health-care issue
4. How did the economy of the South during the Antebellum era compare to that of the North?
A. The South's economy was dependent upon industries, while the North's economy was
dependent upon agriculture.
B. The South's economy was based upon agriculture and slave labor, while the North's
economy was based upon industrialization and wage labor.
C. The South's economy was dictated to them by the British, while the Northern economy was
run by the Puritans.
D. The South's economy was based on wage labor and trade, while the North's economy was
based upon industrialism and all-slave labor.
5. Which of the following events that took place before the Civil War dealt with states' rights?
A. the Trail of Tears
B. the Louisiana Purchase
C. the Nullification Crisis
D. the War of 1812
6. In the 1850s, the territory of Kansas became known as "Bleeding Kansas" after violence
erupted between abolitionists and those who were pro-slavery. Why were people living in
Kansas so divided on the issue of slavery?
A. Slavery was allowed in certain parts of Kansas but not in others, and people were still
divided on the issue of slavery.
B. Pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces fought for control of the territory because it had not yet
been decided if Kansas would become a free or slave state.
C. Congress had decided to allow slavery in Kansas, yet there were many people who wanted
to change it to a free territory.
D. Congress had forbidden slavery in Kansas, yet there were many people who wanted to
change it to a slave territory.
7.
"The new constitution has put at rest, forever, all the agitating questions
relating to our peculiar institution—African slavery as it exists amongst
us—the proper status of the negro in our form of civilization. This was the
immediate cause of the late separation and present revolution. Thomas
Jefferson, in his forecast, had anticipated this, as the 'rock upon which the
old Union would split.' He was right."
Alexander Stephens, Vice President of the Confederate States of America
Cornerstone Speech; March 21, 1861
According to this speech, what were Alexander Stephens' views on slavery?
A. It was immoral, and it was hurting the Confederacy.
B. It was terrible, but it was a guaranteed right of the states.
C. It was clearly defined in the original U.S. Constitution.
D. It was the primary cause of the American Civil War.
8. One of the main arguments between the North and the South prior to the Civil War
was tariffs. Tariffs were taxes people had to pay. The federal government put tariffs on
goods brought to this country from foreign countries. Southerners felt these tariffs were
unfair because their economy relied on foreign goods, so they had to pay more than
Northerners did.
Southerners believed that these tariffs violated
A. their states' rights.
B. the First Amendment.
C. the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
D. the Declaration of Independence.
9. Before the Civil War, one of the sectional differences that existed between the North and the
South was disagreement over tariffs. Why had Congress enacted protective tariffs, such as the
ones passed in 1828 and 1832?
A. to help American factories
B. to help American consumers
C. to help American farmers
D. to hurt American factories
10.
According to the graphs above, what conclusion can be made about the economies of the North
and South in 1860?
A. The North and the South had the same amount of industrialization.
B. There was no industrialization in the South.
C. The South was more industrialized than the North.
D. The North was more industrialized than the South.
11. Why was slavery important to the economy in the South before the Civil War?
A. The economy was mainly agricultural and needed many people to work in the fields.
B. The economy was mainly industrial and needed many people to work in factories.
C. There was a shortage of laborers, and the South needed as many workers as possible.
D. It was forbidden for white people to do work in the South.
12. A person who wanted to end slavery completely in the United States was called an
A. anarchist.
B. apprentice.
C. abolitionist.
D. artisan.
13. In the United States, the Northern economy depended on industry and the
manufacturing of goods. The Southern economy depended on agriculture and trade.
The issue of tariffs—taxes on goods imported from other countries—divided the United
States. The South opposed high tariffs because they made trade with foreign countries
more expensive.
Which of the following best explains why the North supported high tariffs on foreign goods?
A. Without tariffs, the South would not be able to sell their crops for as much money and
would stop farming altogether.
B. With high tariffs, foreign goods were taxed so much that the North did not have to lower
prices to compete with them.
C. Without tariffs, the North was afraid that America would trade so much with England that
the U.S. would lose independence.
D. With high tariffs, it was too expensive for Southern states to buy slaves from Africa, so
slavery would stop spreading.
14. Which invention led to an increase in the production of cotton and helped Southern farms
become more productive?
A. the steamboat
B. the McCormick reaper
C. the cotton gin
D. vulcanized rubber
15. Most Southern whites did not own slaves but still supported the slave system because
A. they believed it was a necessity to the Southern economy.
B. they thought plantation owners should also work in the fields.
C. they believed slavery was immoral.
D. they supported the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
Answers
1. A
2. D
3. C
4. B
5. C
6. B
7. D
8. A
9. A
10. D
11. A
12. C
13. B
14. C
15. A
Explanations
1. To secede from the Union meant to formally withdraw as a member of the Union. The 11
Southern states that seceded from the Union feared that Lincoln would abolish slavery, which
they believed was an economic necessity.
2. Under the Missouri Compromise, Missouri was admitted to the Union as a slave state, and
Maine was admitted as a free state. Another condition of the compromise was that slavery would
not be allowed in the Louisiana Territory north of 36°30', the southern border of Missouri.
Kansas and Nebraska were part of the Louisiana Territory, and they were north of the boundary
set by the Missouri Compromise. By letting Kansas and Nebraska decide the issue of slavery for
themselves, slavery once again became an issue of states' rights.
3. During the antebellum era, the South mainly saw slavery as an economic issue. The South's
economy was primarily based upon agriculture and slave labor. The South realized that if slavery
were abolished, their entire economic system would be destroyed.
4. During the Antebellum era, the South's economy was primarily based upon agriculture and
slave labor. Cotton and rice were major contributions to the economy of the South. The North at
this time had a growing industrial and commercial economy mainly dependent on wage labor.
5. The Nullification Crisis was a conflict over states' rights. Congress enacted tariffs in 1828 and
1832 on imported goods in order to protect American factories. South Carolina decided to
declare the tariffs null and void within their state, which meant they refused to follow the federal
law. South Carolina thought that the tariffs were unfair because they were forced to pay higher
prices for goods. South Carolina threatened to secede if the government tried to enforce the law,
and President Jackson was getting ready to send troops to South Carolina. Henry Clay introduced
a new tariff, which lowered the tax rates over a few years, and South Carolina did not secede.
6. According to the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, the issue of slavery in Kansas was to be
decided by popular sovereignty, meaning that the people who lived in the territory would vote on
whether or not slavery would be allowed there. Since the status of Kansas as a slave or free state
was to be determined by a vote, people from free states and slave states moved to Kansas with
the hopes of becoming the majority in the state. In 1856, people who were pro-slavery burned the
Free State Hotel in the town of Lawrence. A few days later, abolitionist John Brown and several
others killed five people who were pro-slavery.
7. There were many different causes of the American Civil War, all of them stemming from
conflicts between the North and the South. Many people, including Confederate Vice President
Alexander Stephens, felt that the Southern states seceded because the North was opposed to the
institution of slavery.
8. Southerners believed that the tariffs imposed upon them by the federal government violated
their states' rights. Southerners believed that each state should have the right to overrule federal
laws such as tariffs.
9. Congress enacted protective tariffs to help promote American factories. Great Britain had an
advantage over American factories because they had better technology, and it cost them less to
produce certain goods. Even when the expense for shipping items was added to the cost of goods
manufactured in Great Britain, people in the United States were able to buy goods made in Great
Britain for less than goods that were made here. In order to help the American factories,
Congress enacted tariffs which were high taxes on imports and made goods from Europe much
more expensive. The South saw these tariffs as beneficial to the North, which was where the
majority of American factories were located. Southerners were forced to pay higher prices for
manufactured goods, and they thought that the tariffs were unfair. This was just one of the
sectional differences between the North and the South before the Civil War.
10. These graphs compare two aspects of industrialization in the North and South before the
Civil War. While the South had some factories, the vast majority of the factories in the United
States were in the North. The value of goods manufactured in the North was substantially greater
than the value of goods manufactured in the South, which had a primarily agricultural economy.
The different economies in the North and South were one of the sectional differences that existed
before the Civil War.
11. Before the Civil War, the economy in the South was mostly agricultural. There were many
plantations which grew crops such as cotton, tobacco, rice, and sugar cane. The plantations relied
on slave labor to grow the crops.
12. People who wanted to end slavery completely in the United States were called abolitionists.
They thought that owning slaves was wrong for any reason. Abolitionists were generally from
the North, although some were from the South as well. Abolitionists disagreed with the South's
laws and beliefs concerning slavery.
13. There was a relationship between the North's support for tariffs and the South's opposition to
tariffs. Because the Southern economy was devoted to agriculture, it relied on trade for most of
its manufactured goods. Without a tariff on foreign goods, the South could buy products from
England or other European countries for a cheap price.
However, the Northern economy of the U.S. was devoted to making manufactured goods, and it
could not compete with the prices in Europe. If everyone in the South bought products from
Europe, the North could not sell its own products anywhere. Therefore, Northerners supported a
high "protectionist" tariff on foreign goods to make foreign trading more expensive, so people in
the U.S. would have more reason to simply buy goods from the North. This is why the North
supported tariffs while the South opposed them.
14. Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793. The cotton gin was a machine that removed the
seeds from cotton. The process of removing seeds from cotton had previously been done by hand
and was very time consuming. With the new method of removing seeds from cotton, Southern
farms were able to increase their productivity and profitability.
15. Most Southern whites did not own slaves but still supported the slave system because they
believed it was a necessity to the Southern economy. Southern planters relied on slaves to work
on their farms and plantations to make them profitable.