Category 1: Causes of the Civil War
Why did Southern states secede after the election of 1860?
A. They feared losing influence and slavery
B. The North threatened to invade
C. They were promised new territories
D. Lincoln wanted to abolish slavery
✅ A
Explanation: Southern leaders feared slavery would be abolished.
Where did the Civil War begin in April 1861?
A. Bull Run
B. Fort Sumter
C. Gettysburg
D. Vicksburg
✅ B
Explanation: Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter to start the war.
Who was President of the Confederate States?
A. Abraham Lincoln
B. Robert E. Lee
C. Jefferson Davis
D. Ulysses S. Grant
✅ C
Explanation: Davis led the Confederacy throughout the war.
What does "secession" mean?
A. Voting to change a law
B. Joining another country
C. Withdrawing from a union
D. Creating a new constitution
✅ C
Explanation: Secession means a state leaving the country.
What was the Confederacy?
A. The anti-slavery movement
B. The Southern states that seceded
C. The original 13 colonies
D. The states that supported Lincoln
✅ B
Explanation: The Confederacy was made up of seceding slave states.
What issue most divided the North and South?
A. Immigrant labor
B. National banking
C. Railroad construction
D. Slavery and state power
✅ D
Explanation: The South supported slavery; the North increasingly opposed it.
Which battle was the turning point of the Civil War?
A. Gettysburg
B. Vicksburg
C. Antietam
D. Shiloh
✅ A
Explanation: The South's invasion of the North was stopped at Gettysburg.
Who was the commander of the Union Army at the war’s end?
A. George McClellan
B. Ulysses S. Grant
C. William Sherman
D. Robert E. Lee
✅ B
Explanation: Grant accepted Lee's surrender at Appomattox.
What is "sectionalism"?
A. Loyalty to one's region over the country
B. A system of dividing land
C. Expansion of territory
D. Equal representation in Congress
✅ A
Explanation: Sectionalism means strong loyalty to local interests.
What was a blockade?
A. A law to end the war
B. A peace agreement
C. A military strategy to cut off supplies
D. A type of ship used in battle
✅ C
Explanation: The North blockaded Southern ports to weaken them.
What did the Missouri Compromise try to maintain?
A. Equal voting rights
B. Peace with Britain
C. Fair taxation laws
D. Balance between slave and free states
✅ D
Explanation: It tried to keep power balanced in the Senate.
Which battle gave the Union full control of the Mississippi River?
A. Fort Sumter
B. Vicksburg
C. Antietam
D. New Orleans
✅ B
Explanation: Capturing Vicksburg split the Confederacy in half.
What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?
A. Freed slaves in Confederate states
B. Ended slavery nationwide
C. Declared war on the South
D. Guaranteed voting rights
✅ A
Explanation: It changed the war’s focus to ending slavery.
What are "states' rights"?
A. The power of states to control their own taxes
B. The belief that states should rule over the federal government
C. The right of states to abolish slavery
D. The ability to vote in elections
✅ B
Explanation: Southern leaders believed states could nullify federal laws.
What is a civil war?
A. A war against another country
B. A war between groups in the same country
C. A conflict about religion
D. A revolution led by soldiers
✅ B
Explanation: A civil war is a conflict within the same nation.
Which act let people vote on slavery in new territories?
A. Kansas-Nebraska Act
B. Homestead Act
C. Reconstruction Act
D. Fugitive Slave Act
✅ A
Explanation: The Kansas-Nebraska Act used "popular sovereignty."
Which battle was the bloodiest single day in U.S. history?
A. Antietam
B. Fredericksburg
C. Gettysburg
D. Bull Run
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✅ A
Explanation: Over 23,000 casualties occurred at Antietam in one day.
What did Lincoln emphasize in the Gettysburg Address?
A. Expansion of slavery
B. Power of states’ rights
C. The equality and unity of the nation
D. Rebuilding the economy
✅ C
Explanation: Lincoln framed the war as a fight to preserve freedom.
What does the term “Union” refer to during the Civil War?
A. Confederate states
B. European allies
C. The Northern states that remained in the U.S.
D. Border states
✅ C
Explanation: The Union was the North fighting to preserve the country.
What was emancipation?
A. Winning a battle
B. Spreading democracy
C. Gaining independence from Britain
D. Freeing people from slavery
✅ D
Explanation: Emancipation means being freed from slavery.
Which document forced Northerners to return escaped slaves?
A. Emancipation Proclamation
B. Compromise of 1850
C. Fugitive Slave Act
D. Wilmot Proviso
✅ C
Explanation: It required escaped slaves to be returned, even in free states.
What was the outcome of the Battle of Gettysburg?
A. Confederate victory that led to the Emancipation Proclamation
B. Union defeat that prolonged the war
C. Union victory that halted Lee’s invasion of the North
D. A draw that allowed Confederate forces to retreat safely
✅ C
Explanation: Gettysburg marked the end of major Southern offensives.
Who led Confederate forces in the East and surrendered in 1865?
A. Jefferson Davis
B. Robert E. Lee
C. Thomas Jackson
D. J.E.B. Stuart
✅ B
Explanation: Lee led the Army of Northern Virginia.
What does “abolition” mean?
A. Changing the Constitution
B. The legal end of slavery
C. Expanding westward
D. Enforcing segregation
✅ B
Explanation: Abolition means to formally end slavery.
What does “reconstruction” refer to?
A. The rebuilding of the South after the Civil War
B. The writing of the Declaration of Independence
C. The building of railroads in the West
D. A plan to colonize new lands
✅ A
Explanation: Reconstruction was the effort to rebuild and reintegrate Southern states.