The 1850s and The Civil War

Question 1

Define ‘Sectionalism’

Answer 1

Loyalty to the interests of one’s own region or section of the country, rather than to the country as a whole. For example, Southerners were more loyal to their individual states and the region called the south, than they were to the USA.

Question 2

Which region - NORTH or SOUTH - was known for having more cities, better transportation, and more factories?

Answer 2

The North

Question 3

What were the provisions (or parts of) the Missouri Compromise of 1820?

Answer 3

Missouri was allowed to enter the Union as a SLAVE STATE. Maine was created as a FREE STATE to maintain a balance. All FUTURE states NORTH of 36-30 were to be FREE STATES.

Question 4

Under this agreement, California was admitted to the Union as a FREE state, a new fugitive slave law was enacted, and popular sovereignty was used to determine the slavery issue in the New Mexico and Utah Territories.

Answer 4

The Compromise of 1850

Question 5

Define “Popular Sovereignty’

Answer 5

“POWER TO THE PEOPLE!” This means allowing the people living in each territory to decide for themselves whether their territory would be a SLAVE or FREE territory.

Question 6

This famous book was published in 1852. It was a bestseller in the NORTH and hated in the SOUTH. The book forced many people to take a position on the slavery issue because it was so vivid and emotional.

Answer 6

Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Published in 1852)

Question 7

Who was the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin?

Answer 7

Harrier Beecher Stowe. It is said that when Lincoln met H.B. Stowe, he said: “So you’re the lady who the wrote the book that caused this war” (meaning the Civil War)

Question 8

What is the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854?

Answer 8

This was a law that allowed the people living in Kansas and Nebraska Territories the right, under popular sovereignty, to choose whether their territory would be SLAVE or FREE. This infuriated the north because it threw the Missouri Compromise line (36-30) out the window!

Question 9

What is meant by “Bleeding Kansas”?

Answer 9

After the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), Pro- and Anti-Slavery groups rushed to Kansas to try to make Kansas either SLAVE or FREE territory. These groups collided and violence broke out. Some people were even massacred by having their heads split open with swords. It was bloody!

Question 10

Explain the case of Dred Scott vs. Sanford (1857).

Answer 10

Dred Scott was a slave who was taken by his owner to free territory in the North. Dred Scott sues for his freedom and it goes to the Supreme Court. The Court ruled that Dred Scott is NOT a citizen, he is property. They also ruled that Congress can NOT make any law that bans slavery in the territories because that would be telling people they cannot take their property with them wherever they go.

Question 11

What do John Brown, William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglas, and Harriet Beecher Stowe all have in common?

Answer 11

They were all ABOLITIONISTS, who fought to ABOLISH or END SLAVERY.

Question 12

Lincoln won the 1860 Presidential Election. What happened immediately after his victory?

Answer 12

The states in the LOWER SOUTH (Starting with South Carolina) seceded from the Union, forming the Confederate States of America. Lincoln was NOT event sworn in as President yet!

Question 13

What was the nickname for the Union Military Strategy in the Civil War?

Answer 13

The Anaconda Plan. It called for:
1) Capturing Richmond - the capital of the South; 2) a blockade of the South’s coastline to keep supplies, food, trade, etc. to a minimum, and 3) taking control of the Mississippi River, thereby dividing the South.

Question 14

What was the FIRST battle of the Civil War?

Answer 14

The Battle of Fort Sumter off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina in April 1861.

Question 15

After this battle, the North claimed a victory and Lincoln issued his famous Emancipation Proclamation. This was the first major battle fought on Northern ground. It was also the bloodiest single day of the Civil War.

Answer 15

Battle of Antietam

Question 16

Why was the Battle of Gettysburg so important?

Answer 16

It was a TURNING POINT in the Civil War. The North won this battle, which raised their spirits (morale) and left the Southern Army severely damaged and weak. Pickett’s Charge was the climatic moment of the battle and much of the South’s army was wounded or killed.

Question 17

What is the “writ of habeas corpus?”

Answer 17

The rule that the government (police, for example) must have a good reason to arrest/detain you AND inform you of that reason.

Question 18

In what way is Lincoln sometimes criticized for violating civil liberties during the Civil War?

Answer 18

He suspended the writ of habeas corpus, thereby giving the government the right to arrest/detail people without having good cause and/or telling the people being arrested or detained what that cause is.

Question 19

What was the real impact of the Emancipation Proclamation?

Answer 19

Little impact or effect, especially at first. The North (Union) simply were not in a position to enforce this proclamation (statement) of Lincoln. In fact, some could argue we were losing the overall war at the time it was issued in 1862/1863.

Question 20

Which famous speech begins with the words “Four score and seven years ago…”?

Answer 20

Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. He was in Gettysburg to dedicate the cemetery at the battlefield where the famous fight took place.

Question 21

What does ‘secede’ mean?

Answer 21

To secede means to withdraw formally from a membership in a group. The South seceded when they announced they were LEAVING the Union of States (i.e. United States) after the election of Lincoln in 1860.

Question 22

This was a loosely organized network of safe houses designed to help runaway slaves escape the South and make their way to safety in the North or in Canada. Harriet Tubman is perhaps the most famous name associated with this network.

Answer 22

The Underground Railroad

Question 23

What is meant by the headline “Brooks Canes Sumner”?

Answer 23

Congressman Preston Brooks from South Carolina walked into the Senate Chambers in Washington, DC and beat Senator Charles Sumner (from Massachusetts) with a cane. Brooks was mad over an anti-slavery speech delivered by Sumner.

Question 24

This man was a radical abolitionist who participated in ‘Bleeding Kansas” and then later led a failed attempt to take control over an arsenal of weapons at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia in 1859. He was executed after being captured and put on trial.

Answer 24

John Brown

Question 25

Who was Jefferson Davis?

Answer 25

The President of the Confederate States of America (the South) during the Civil War.

Question 26

Which General led the South with quite a bit of success during the Civil War?

Answer 26

General Robert E. Lee

Question 27

For how many years did the Civil War last? Do you know the dates?

Answer 27

About 4 years. It lasted “Across Five Aprils” from April 1861 to April 1865.