Causes & Secession
This 1857 Supreme Court decision declared that African Americans could not be citizens, a ruling later overturned by an amendment.
Dred Scott
The Union strategy that aimed to blockade Southern ports and control the Mississippi River
Anaconda Plan
The federal agency created to provide food, medical care, and schools to formerly enslaved people after the Civil War.
Freedmen’s Bureau
The trio of Georgia leaders who promoted industrial growth and conservative politics in the late 1800s
Bourbon Triumvirate
Give a short definition of "theme" and name one common theme in coming-of-age stories.
A theme is the central idea or message of a story; a common coming-of-age theme is the search for identity.
Name the Georgia statement that accepted the Compromise of 1850 and urged cooperation with the Union while protecting slavery.
Georgia Platform
This 1864 campaign captured a major Georgia city and was followed by a destructive march to the sea.
Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign (and Sherman’s March to the Sea)
Match the amendment to its main action: Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth (provide three short phrases).
13th — abolished slavery; 14th — granted citizenship and equal protection; 15th — protected voting rights for Black men
Name the journalist (and orator) who promoted the "New South" and southern industrialization.
Henry Grady
Read this brief excerpt: "After the storm, she finally knew who she wanted to be." What possible theme does this suggest? Explain in one sentence using evidence from the sentence.
This suggests the theme that personal growth often comes through difficult experiences, as shown by “after the storm” leading her to understand who she wanted to be.
One major issue argued by proponents of states’ rights; it involved a state rejecting a federal law by declaring it void.
Nullification (states’ rights to nullify federal laws)
Name the Confederate prison in Georgia known for harsh conditions and many Union deaths.
Andersonville (Camp Sumter)
Which Reconstruction plan offered pardons for many Southerners who swore allegiance but excluded high-ranking Confederate leaders?
Lincoln’s Plan (Presidential Reconstruction by Lincoln/Johnson offered broad pardons)
Identify one tactic used to disenfranchise Black voters after Reconstruction
Poll taxes / Literacy tests / Grandfather clause / White Primary / Imtimidation or Violence(any one)
Explain how to distinguish a theme from a moral or a topic in a text. Give a one-sentence example that shows the difference.
A theme is a deeper message about life, while a topic is just the subject and a moral is a lesson stated directly; for example, “friendship” is a topic, “be loyal to friends” is a moral, and “true friendship requires sacrifice” is a theme.
The candidate whose election in 1860 prompted Southern states to consider secession.
Abraham Lincoln
Which Union action of 1863 made ending slavery an explicit war aim and discouraged foreign support for the Confederacy?
Emancipation Proclamation
Explain why Georgia legislators who were African American were expelled from the state legislature in 1868 — give two contributing reasons (2–3 bullets).
(Expect answers indicating white resistance, racism, political power struggles, and efforts to remove Black influence — e.g., claims about eligibility or intimidation.)
Who founded the Atlanta Mutual Insurance Association to help African Americans gain economic security?
Alonzo Herndon
Identify two pieces of textual evidence (what to look for) a reader should cite when arguing that a story’s theme is "resilience."
A theme can be inferred through characters’ changes, conflicts, and outcomes rather than stated outright, requiring readers to analyze patterns in the story.
Explain how the Dred Scott decision and Abraham Lincoln’s election together increased sectional tensions (two‑sentence student response).
Expect students to say Dred Scott denied citizenship/rights and Lincoln’s election signaled a political threat to slavery — together escalating calls for secession.
Short response: Describe how the Union blockade affected Georgia’s economy and war effort (2–3 sentences).
Students should note blockade cut off exports/imports, damaged Confederate trade, caused shortages, and harmed Georgia’s economy.
Short constructed response: Contrast the goals of the Freedmen’s Bureau with those of the Ku Klux Klan (3–4 sentences, include at least one similarity or difference).
(Freedmen’s Bureau aimed to assist and protect freedpeople; KKK used violence and intimidation to oppose Black civil rights and restore white supremacy.)
Short essay (3–5 sentences): Explain how Jim Crow laws, Plessy v. Ferguson, and racial violence like the 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre shaped everyday life for African Americans in Georgia.
(Students should describe legal and extra‑legal restrictions — segregation, "separate but equal" from Plessy, and mob violence — which limited rights, safety, and economic opportunities.)
State the central theme of Soldier's Heart, and write two lines of textual evidence that support your claim (you can paraphrase).
In Soldier's Heart, the central theme is that war permanently changes a person and can strip away innocence; evidence includes Charley’s excitement to enlist turning into trauma after witnessing death and violence, and his inability to return to normal life afterward, showing lasting emotional damage.