Civil War Vocabulary Words

Question 1

abolition

Answer 1

the seeking of the legal end to slavery in the US

Question 2

abolitionist

Answer 2

an individual who opposed slavery as a moral wrong which violated basic human rights and religious teachings

Question 3

the confederacy

Answer 3

the new nation and government formed in 1861 by the southern states that seceded when Lincoln was elected

Question 4

anaconda plan

Answer 4

the unions plan to win the civil war

Question 5

copperheads

Answer 5

northern democrats who opposed the civil war and president Lincoln’s policies

Question 6

ante-bellum

Answer 6

a term used to describe the southern states during the time period before the civil war

Question 7

anti-slavery movement

Answer 7

abolitionist movement to end the enslavement of negroes

Question 8

draft

Answer 8

the conscription or selective services- selection of men to serve in the military

Question 9

emancipation proclamation

Answer 9

issued by Lincoln and declared slaves free in areas of rebellion

Question 10

civil war

Answer 10

period of warfare between the union and confederacy over the rights of slavery

Question 11

confederate

Answer 11

those who actively supported the south during the CW

Question 12

federal supremacy

Answer 12

the constitution is the law of the land

Question 13

Abraham Lincoln

Answer 13

16th president of the US

Question 14

free states

Answer 14

states did not have slaves

Question 15

the merrimack

Answer 15

first ironclad ship built by the south during the CW

Question 16

the monitor

Answer 16

first ironclad ship built by the north during the CW

Question 17

fugitive slave law

Answer 17

provision of the compromise of 1850- slaves that escaped should be returned to their owner

Question 18

gettysburg address

Answer 18

speech given by Lincoln to dedicate the cemetery at the Gettysburg battlefield

Question 19

Habeas Corpus

Answer 19

the right of a citizen to know the charges brought against him

Question 20

plantation system

Answer 20

agricultural system before the civil war

Question 21

popular sovereignty

Answer 21

the vote of people living in a territory who were responsible for deciding slavery

Question 22

proslavery

Answer 22

an opinion that favors slavery

Question 23

harriet beecher stowe

Answer 23

author of uncle toms cabin, a novel which heightened antislavery sentiment around the world

Question 24

secession

Answer 24

the term used to describe the separation of the southern states before the civil war

Question 25

secession

Answer 25

the term used to describe the separation of the southern states of the US

Question 26

sectionalism

Answer 26

concern for devotion to the interests of a state or particular section of the US over the interests of the nation itself

Question 27

the union

Answer 27

a name for the US especially during the civil war