Chapter 3: US Civil War

Question 1

What is a Civil War?

Answer 1

Civil War is a conflict raised among the civilians or societies within the boundaries of a country.

Question 2

What was the US/ American Civil war?

Answer 2

In American history, the conflict between the Northern States (the Union) and the Southern States (the Confederacy) between 1861-65 is generally known as the US (American) Civil War.

Question 3

Who were the abolitionists?

Answer 3

The northerners wanted to end slavery in the south. They were called the abolitionists.

Question 4

Who started a revolt at Harper’s Ferry? Why?

Answer 4

John Brown, an abolitionist started a small revolt at Harper’s Ferry to raise his voice against slavery, but was soon hanged to suppress the revolt.

Question 5

Under whose leadership did the eleven states secede from the Union?

Answer 5

Near the beginning of the war, eleven southern states seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America under the leadership of Jefferson Davis.

Question 6

What were the causes of difference between the Northern and Southern States of America?

Answer 6

1. The Southern States largely comprised small and large plantations that grew crops like cotton, which were labour-intensive.
2. The North was more of a manufacturing centre, using raw materials like cotton to create finished goods to be supplied to emerging nations.
3. Slavery had been abolished in the North but continued in the South due to the need for inexpensive labour. As new states were added to the United States, compromises had to be reached concerning whether they would be admitted as Slave States or as Free States.
4. Both groups feared that the other may gain power. If more slave states existed, then they would gain more power in the nation.

Question 7

How far was slavery responsible in causing the Civil War?

Answer 7

1. At the beginning of 1860, one out of every seven people in the United States was a slave in the southern plantations. They remained in demand due to the increased productivity introduced by the cotton ginneries and greatly outnumbered the slave owners there.
2. They were victims of harsh working conditions, poverty, infectious diseases caused due to unhygienic living conditions, neglect and severe treatment at the hands of their masters.
3. The Northerners wanted to end slavery in the South. They were called abolitionists.
4. John Brown, an abolitionist started a small revolt in Harpers Ferry to raise his voice against slavery but was soon hanged to suppress the revolt.
5. But his success sparked a new disturbance and violence over slavery. A few other abolitionists took up the torch for the cause.

Question 8

Give the reasons for the Secession of States.

Answer 8

1. The election of Lincoln was a threat to slavery and consequently to the state union. The spur gave birth to the secession of the Confederates.
2. Near the beginning of the war, eleven southern states seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America under the leadership of Jefferson Davis.
3. Their secession marked the dissolving of the Union. Soon after the secession, disputes over federal or state property began, giving rise to the signs of the war. State Rights were the direct cause of the war encouraging the secession of states and the direct start of gunfire at Fort Sumter.
4. Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as the President of America in March 1861. On April 12, 1861, the Confederate forces led by General P.T. Beauregard opened fire on Fort Sumter in South Carolina. This began the American Civil War.

Question 9

Discuss how Lincoln’s views brought about a revolution in the American mindset.

Answer 9

1. Lincoln’s leadership was a driving force behind the victory of the North over the South.
2. He was touched by the vast bloodshed on the battlefield of Gettysburg and urged for the abolition of slavery in his famous speech called ‘Gettysburg Speech’ soon after the battle was over. His Emancipation Proclamation in the year 1863 declared slavery illegal.
3. It was his firm conviction that declared the secession of the Southern States illegal and chose war to protect the Federal Union in 1861. He was a soft-spoken person who used words sparingly but to great effect.
4. His ‘Gettysburg Address’ and ‘Emancipation Proclamation’ were not military actions, but they surely contributed to a change in mindset and morale, both in the armed forces and in the civilian population.

Question 10

Civil War in some way was advantageous for Americans. Give reasons.

Answer 10

1. Most importantly the war officially ended slavery and people figured out how to get along with each other.
2. The people of the South were reunited and despite the fire-gutted, destroyed, plundered and overall decimated southern habitations, great happiness of reunion was spurred.
3. The war, no doubt, gave the world modern warfare techniques like that of a machine gun but warned the rest of the world of the ill effects of these deadly measures. Ships, railways and telegraphs were yet other features that highlighted the warfare skills.
4. However bloody the war may have been, it helped America come out of the grave treachery of slavery and stand high before the world as inspiration, encouraging them to rise up for their liberty.