CHAPTER REVIEW
Rapid Review Guide
To achieve the perfect 5, you should be able to explain the following:
• By 1861 various social, political, economic, and cultural factors made conflict between the North and the South inevitable.
• The North had numerous industrial, transportation, and financial advantages that they utilized throughout the Civil War.
• The Confederate States of America was created in February 1861; the fact that these states were organized as a confederacy had several disadvantages that would become obvious as the war progressed.
• Success for the Confederacy depended on European aid; Southerners overestimated the dependence of Europe on Southern crops.
• Confederate generals proved much more competent than their Union counterparts in several key battles in the first years of the war.
• By late 1862 the war had produced severe effects on the home fronts; food shortages were occurring in the South, and President Lincoln imposed martial law in several locations and suspended the writ of habeas corpus in the cases of some of his political opponents.
• The Emancipation Proclamation provided a moral justification for Northerners to continue the war.
• The war shifted decisively in favor of the North in 1863, with the battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg proving to be critical victories for the North.
• The surrender of the Confederacy in April 1865 was caused by a severe lack of morale, manpower, and economic stability in the South.
Time Line
1860: Abraham Lincoln elected president South Carolina secedes from Union
1861: Confederate States of America created
Attack on Fort Sumter
First Battle of Bull Run
Union begins blockade of Southern ports
1862: New Orleans captured by Union navy Battle of Shiloh
Conscription begins in Confederate states
Emancipation of slaves in Southern states begins
Battle of Antietam
British announce they will not aid the Confederacy in any substantial way
1863: Emancipation Proclamation
Conscription begins in the North; draftees may hire “replacements”
First black soldiers enlist in Union army
Crucial Union victory at Gettysburg
Crucial Union victory at Vicksburg
Draft riots in New York City
1864: Abraham Lincoln reelected
General Sherman carries out his “march to the sea”
Desertion becomes a major problem in the Confederate army
1865: General Lee surrenders at Appomattox Abraham Lincoln assassinated
Review Questions
1. The North held many advantages at the beginning of the Civil War except
A. most major financial institutions were in the North
B. the North occupied more territory than the Sooth
C. the North had more railroad lines
D. the North had more factories
E. the North had a larger population
(Correct Answer: B. All of the others were major advantages for the Union war effort.)
2. European states did not aid the
Confederacy in the Civil War because
A. Union diplomats made many efforts to convince them not to
B. there were alternative sources of cotton and other crops that they could turn to
C. the Confederacy’s position on slavery
D. they did not believe that the Confederacy could win
E. All of the above
(Correct Answer: E. All of the reasons given helped convince the Europeans not to assist the Confederacy. The Confederacy’s position on slavery proved to be especially troublesome, since slavery had long been outlawed in Europe.}
3. The military draft was unpopular to many in the North because
A. the North already was lacking in men during this period
B. the draft allowed blacks to enter the armed forces
C. the draft allowed Irish-American immigrants to enter the army
D. the draft allowed those drafted to hire “replacements’’
E. martial law was needed in many locations to enforce the draft provisions
(Correct Answer: D. The fact that replacement soldiers, oftentimes immigrants, could be hired or that a payment of $300 to the government could get a man out of the draft made the system very unpopular to many.)
4. The Battle of Vicksburg was an important victory for the Union because
A. it reversed several Union defeats in the same year
B. it came quickly, with a minimal loss of Union life
C. it gave the Union a pathway to Atlanta
D. it gave the Union virtual control of the Mississippi River
E. it demonstrated that General Lee could, in fact, be beaten
(Correct Answer: D. The six-week Battle of Vicksburg occurred in 1863 and helped turn the war in the Union’s favor. As a result of Vicksburg, the Mississippi was virtually in the hands of the Union. Lee did not command the Confederate forces at Vicksburg.)
5. Copperheads were
A. Democrats in the North who opposed the war
B. Republicans in the North who suggested that Lincoln be replaced
C. Democrats in the North who switched over to Lincoln
D. Southern Democrats who wanted negotiations with the North as early at 1863
E. Northern Democrats who moved to the South during the war
(Correct Answer: A. Copperheads were Democrats in the North who claimed that the war would bring economic ruin to the North, with freed slaves taking jobs that whites now had. Some were arrested and deported.)