Deck 16: Total War and the Republic 1861-1865

Question 1

Although at the outset European experts expected the Confederacy to prevail, the North won, demonstrating that in modern war, ________ can offset _______.

A) technology; terrain and distance
B) strategic planning; idealistic determination
C) industrial power; agricultural power
D) sheer numerical superiority; the advantages of superior leadership

Answer 1

technology; terrain and distance

Question 2

What was Jefferson Davis's central problem in organizing the South for war?

A) In a culture that prized the English country gentry, Davis was rough-hewn and awkward.
B) In a society that prized states' rights, Davis had to centralize authority.
C) In a crisis that demanded tough-minded attention to military details, Davis was more of a grand strategist.
D) In a war that required rapid mobilization of a whole society, most ordinary folk in the South expected a protracted conflict and hence were reluctant to enlist.

Answer 2

In a society that prized states' rights, Davis had to centralize authority.

Question 3

Which of the following is NOT a way the Confederacy was like the North?

A) Both presidents, despite little military background, ably directed the war effort.
B) Each government relied initially on volunteer soldiers, but later had to institute a draft, which provoked deep hostility.
C) Each government financed the war through taxes and issuing paper money.
D) The demands of war tended to increase the power of the central government and accelerate industrialization on both sides.

Answer 3

Both presidents, despite little military background, ably directed the war effort.

Question 4

One significant difference between the Confederacy and the North was that

A) the North was able to print more money to pay for the war, while the South had no such capability.
B) northern civilians rarely felt the direct effects of the war, while southern civilians were directly affected.
C) the South had to resort to a draft, while the North was able to raise its army from volunteers.
D) the South used taxes to pay for the war, while the North was able to finance the war with treasury surpluses.

Question 5

The Union war effort began by implementing the strategy embodied in General Winfield Scott's "anaconda plan,"which called for

A) encircling and squeezing the Confederacy with a naval blockade.
B) a sudden strike against a vulnerable point of the borders of the Confederacy.
C) a concealed and roundabout infiltration of Confederate territory west of the Mississippi.
D) postponing direct military operations until the North's industrial capacity could be brought up to full military production.

Question 6

Which of the following statements accurately describes the role of cotton in the Confederacy's effort to gain international recognition?

A) Cotton diplomacy succeeded in winning European recognition, but not aid for the Confederacy.
B) Cotton diplomacy succeeded in winning substantial aid, but not recognition for the Confederacy.
C) Cotton diplomacy failed to win either substantial aid or recognition because of adequate cotton supplies worldwide.
D) Cotton diplomacy failed because neither French nor British leaders sympathized with the Confederacy.

Question 7

The first decisive Union military victory of the war occurred

A) in Maryland, with the defeat of an invading Confederate force.
B) in Virginia, at Bull Run.
C) in the West, in the middle Tennessee River valley under General Grant.
D) along the Gulf coast, where Marines landed against General Jackson's defenders at New Orleans.

Question 8

Which of the following statements about Lincoln's view of emancipation at the beginning of the war is accurate?

A) Lincoln insisted that emancipation was the main objective.
B) Lincoln refused to make emancipation a war aim.
C) Lincoln believed that emancipation was the only way to secure the support of the border states.
D) Republican radicals convinced Lincoln that preservation of the Union was paramount and that emancipation should not be considered.

Question 9

The battle at Antietam Creek was significant for all the following reasons EXCEPT that it

A) proved McClellan could mastermind a victory after all.
B) provided an occasion for Lincoln to announce the Emancipation Proclamation.
C) repulsed a Confederate invasion of the North.
D) was the bloodiest single-day battle in the history of American warfare.

Question 10

What is true about African Americans during the Civil War?

A) Many slaves escaped to Union lines, where they were put to work or even allowed to join the army.
B) Northern whites and northern free blacks both uniformly welcomed black soldiers into the Union army.
C) Lincoln permitted African Americans to serve in the navy, but not the army.
D) They were put to work as unskilled laborers and paid about the same as white citizens for the same work.

Question 11

Thirty-seven thousand African American servicemen gave their lives as Union soldiers in the U.S. Civil War, a rate of loss about 40 percent higher than that among white soldiers. Why did black soldiers fight and die so fiercely?

A) The freedom of their race hung in the balance.
B) They hoped to win their civil rights after the war.
C) More than for a white soldier, their capture by rebel forces might mean death.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 12

) During the war, women of both the North and the South did all of the following EXCEPT

A) enter and eventually dominate the nursing profession.
B) take jobs in the growing government bureaucracies.
C) run farms and plantations.
D) run railroads.

Question 13

Due to the Union blockade,

A) the Confederacy had to turn to Europe for the necessary manufactured goods.
B) many southern plantations switched from cotton to raising grain and livestock.
C) the Confederacy ultimately became industrially self-sufficient.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 14

What was the cause of the riots in New York City in 1863?

A) the draft
B) bread shortages
C) emancipation
D) taxes

Question 15

The Republican Congress during the Civil War passed economic legislation that would have warmed Henry Clay's heart, including all EXCEPT

A) a system of nationally-chartered banks.
B) a protective tariff.
C) a program to underwrite the costs of public colleges.
D) the restriction of money to hard currency (specie).

Question 16

Lincoln, later revered as the Great Emancipator, ironically infringed on the civil liberties of northerners during the Civil War-specifically by

A) suspending the writ of habeas corpus in specified areas in the North.
B) suspending the writ of habeas corpus in areas still in rebellion in the South.
C) recommending postponement of the presidential election due to be held in 1864.
D) defying the Supreme Court's order to free those imprisoned without being charged.

Question 17

Which of the following is NOT an accurate statement about Civil War soldiering?

A) Neither northern nor southern soldiers accepted discipline well.
B) The lower classes of society, rather than the typical farmer or shopkeeper, made up a disproportionate share of each army.
C) Twice as many soldiers died from disease as from war-inflicted wounds.
D) Camp life both corrupted morals and provided occasions for religious revivals.

Question 18

Which of the following was responsible for the loosening of morals in Civil War camps?

A) boredom
B) influence of all-male society
C) horrors of battle
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 19

The Civil War marked a significant change in the history of human warfare, because

A) the technology of weaponry gave the defense the advantage over the offense.
B) the value of defense contractors decreased as the war dragged on.
C) it was the first time a completely professional army was used on both sides of a conflict.
D) it was the first total war involving two continents.

Question 20

According to the text, what was the event that decided the "war in the balance"-that is, the event that both ended any last hopes of the Confederacy and assured the abolition of slavery?

A) the Emancipation Proclamation
B) the elevation of Grant to commander in chief
C) the victories at Vicksburg and Gettysburg
D) the re-election of Lincoln

Question 21

The Confederate president who had served previously as secretary of war was _______.

Question 22

________ was the celebrated Virginian who led the Army of Northern Virginia so well for so long, but who finally had to surrender to Ulysses S. Grant.

Question 23

In 1863 the Confederate government levied a(n) ________ income tax, which was based on the percentage of an individual's income.

Question 24

Discuss how four of the following factors worked as an advantage either for the North or for the South: geography, political leadership, manpower, industrial capacity, and relative strength of the central government.

Question 25

Explain why three of the following battles were important turning points in the war: Antietam, Appomattox, first Bull Run, Gettysburg, and Vicksburg.

Question 26

Explain why Abraham Lincoln hesitated at first to make emancipation a goal of the war, and trace the change in his policy.

Question 27

What did the Emancipation Proclamation say? List three important consequences of the Proclamation. Do these consequences justify viewing the Proclamation as a turning point in the war?

Question 28

Compare the military strategies of Grant and McClellan. Why was Grant better suited to waging total war?

Question 29

How did black Americans contribute to the final outcome of the war?

Question 30

What does the idea of "total war"mean? Identify at least three ways the Civil War was a total war. What was the significance of each? Which one was the most important, in your view?

Question 31

What advantages did the Confederacy have when the war began? How did the Union overcome these advantages?

Question 32

Evaluate Lincoln and Davis as war leaders.

Question 33

How did the war change women's lives? Did it have a different impact on women in the Union and women in the Confederacy? Was it a liberating experience?

Question 34

What was the impact of the war on the home front in the Union and the Confederacy?

Question 35

List four ways the war changed the nation. What is the significance of each point you note?

Question 36

Explore the chronology of the American Civil War. Be sure to mention at least three battles and five significant people. What is the significance and legacy of the Civil War?