American Civil War 1861-1865

Question 1

Civil War was a bloodbath

Answer 1

Almost as many American died in the civil war as did in all the other wars America has been involved in

Question 2

Battle of Antietam
17 September 1862

Answer 2

22,200 deaths in 1 day
Bloodiest day in American history - eclipsed the death total

Question 3

620,000 deaths altogether

Answer 3

Number reported since early 20thC
Could have been many more

Question 4

Affected civilians

Answer 4

First war with major battles involving 100,000 soldiers
Moved along railroads/needed weapons
The first total war
Armies were sustained by civilians

Question 5

The civil war transformed

Answer 5

The society as a whole

Question 6

Myths applied to the war based on

Answer 6

Nobility
Honour
Tragedy

Question 7

Ironic “romanticisation of war” myth

Answer 7

Destructive and bloody
People died in brutal ways
Cultural shame

Question 8

War commemoration

Answer 8

Nation state becoming an enterprise
General in battle, idea of displaying the best of the war
Challenges the true view of the war

Question 9

“Both sides are celebrated” myth

Answer 9

Modernism
Vehicle for the industrial world triumphing over agricultural world
South as the noble loser, north as the winner of a tragedy

Question 10

“Southerners still had power in government” myth

Answer 10

Lincoln didn’t want to intervene with slavery
Slavery would have died out without the war
Historical inevitability

Question 11

Key problem for the north

Answer 11

Wanted to save the union
Mission was freeing the slaves
Did not want to go to war to free slaves

Question 12

Both armies were a

Answer 12

Volunteer force
Had some support from the drafted army

Question 13

Incompetent generals commanding the union army

Answer 13

Ulysses S. Grant changed this
Made president later

Question 14

Southern generals better than northern

Answer 14

General Robert E. Lee commanded southern army
Was a slaveholder, not clear whether he opposed slavery

Question 15

The Generals all knew each other

Answer 15

Had fought in the Mexican-American war
Would send messages across the battlefield to each other

Question 16

Initially the south did well

Answer 16

Battle of Bull Run first victory
Close to Washington D.C.
People went to watch it
Northern forces failed

Question 17

South won some battles in 1862

Answer 17

However, many casualties
North won the decisive Antietam battle

Question 18

Bloodbath was intense

Answer 18

Lincoln had to consider a different approach

Question 19

Southern commitment faltered

Answer 19

Southern society broke down
Cost of the slaughter affected southern society

Question 20

Southern leadership knew they couldn’t hold out

Answer 20

Attempted to invade the north
Lost their advantage

Question 21

175,000 southerners died

Answer 21

97,000 died in the first 8 battles
General also died or were wounded

Question 22

South seceded to ensure the rights of

Answer 22

Individual states
Meant there was no solidarity
Difficult to organise

Question 23

Slavery began to collapse

Answer 23

Breakdown of the plantation
Slaves supported the north
Increase in runaways/insubordination

Question 24

1 in 7 slaves fled to the union forces

Answer 24

When the north’s army passed the plantations
Wanted to help in anyway, assisted in road building

Question 25

Ending slavery was not the goal of the war

Answer 25

Abolition of slavery could sabotage the economy of the south
The military leaders were ahead of political leaders

Question 26

Southern states were captured and returned to the union

Answer 26

Lincoln returned slaves to slaveholders despite the military freeing them
Lincoln was concerned with the border states (still supported the north but held slaves)

Question 27

Slaves working for the army

Answer 27

Were considered free in 1861

Question 28

1862 banned

Answer 28

The runaway slave laws
Slavery in the new territories
Freed slaves in Washington D.C.

Question 29

Emancipation proclamation 1863

Answer 29

Lincoln declared slaves were free in states that had been conquered by the Union