Major Battles & Turning Points
This battle was the deadliest single-day battle in American history.
What is Antietam?
This proclamation allowed formerly enslaved people to join the Union army.
What is the Emancipation Proclamation?
He was appointed General in Chief of the Union Army during the Civil War.
Who is Ulysses S. Grant?
The Radical Republicans passed major legislation during this era.
What is Reconstruction?
This document declared enslaved people in rebelling states to be free.
What is the Emancipation Proclamation?
This event officially started the Civil War when Confederate forces fired on a Union fort.
What is the firing on Fort Sumter?
After the Battle of Antietam, European nations decided not to support this side.
Who is the Confederacy?
He opposed secession but remained loyal to Virginia.
Who is Robert E. Lee?
The amendment that abolished slavery.
What is the 13th Amendment?
This speech included the phrase “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
What is the Gettysburg Address?
This Union victory gave the North control of the Mississippi River and completed part of the Anaconda Plan
What is the Battle of Vicksburg?
Lincoln’s assassination caused this type of political situation during Reconstruction.
What is political uncertainty?
This leader strengthened the Union war effort by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, which shifted the purpose of the Civil War and allowed African Americans to join the Union army.
Who is Abraham Lincoln?
The amendment that granted citizenship rights.
What is the 14th Amendment?
According to the Gettysburg Address, what must not “perish from the earth”?
What is democratic government?
This event symbolized the collapse of the Confederacy when Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant.
What is the surrender at Appomattox Court House?
How did the Emancipation Proclamation change the purpose of the Civil War?
It shifted the war to include ending slavery, not just preserving the Union.
Compare Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis in terms of leadership strengths during wartime.
Lincoln’s communication & national unity vs. Davis’ military background but political challenges
The amendment that protected voting rights regardless of race.
What is the 15th Amendment?
Using this line from the Emancipation Proclamation:
“…such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States…”
Explain one direct impact this had on the Civil War and support your answer with evidence from the quote.
It allowed formerly enslaved men to join the Union army, which increased Union troop numbers and strengthened the North militarily.
Explain how Gettysburg and Vicksburg together changed the momentum of the Civil War.
Both were major Union victories in 1863; Gettysburg stopped Lee’s invasion of the North; Vicksburg split the Confederacy and gave Union control of the Mississippi River.
Rank these events in order of how strongly they weakened the Confederacy and justify your reasoning:
Gettysburg
Vicksburg
Appomattox
(Students must defend reasoning — no single correct ranking, but justification must show historical understanding.)
Compare Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis in terms of leadership strengths during wartime.
Lincoln’s communication & national unity vs. Davis’ military background but political challenges
This Reconstruction amendment guaranteed citizenship and equal protection under the law, directly challenging Southern Black Codes.
What is the 14th Amendment?
Compare these two excerpts:
Gettysburg Address:
“…that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish…”
Emancipation Proclamation:
“…all persons held as slaves… shall be… forever free…”
Explain how these two documents together show that Lincoln connected democracy and freedom as goals of the Civil War.
Gettysburg = preserving democracy (Union survival)
Emancipation = expanding freedom (ending slavery in rebelling states)
Together they show the war was about both saving the Union AND redefining liberty.