Lincoln 1861 - 1865

Question 1

What two major points did Lincoln make in his Inaugural Address?

Answer 1

Abraham Lincoln:

• Vowed not to interfere with slavery where it currently existed.
• Stated unequivocally that Northern forces would not fire the first shot.

“In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine is the momentous issue of Civil War. The government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors.”

True to his word, honest Abe did not order the first attack that started the war!

Question 2

Where is Fort Sumter?

Answer 2

Fort Sumter is in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina and was built to protect the harbor from foreign enemies.

Question 3

Which side started the Civil War?

Answer 3

The South.

Deep in Confederate Territory, a small Union force held Fort Sumter. Instead of defending Sumter or abandoning it, Lincoln announced that he was sending non-military supplies by an unarmed ship to the federal troops inside.

As such, the South was now faced with a difficult choice; either attack the fort and begin a war, or let the troops inside receive food, and enable them to hold on. They chose the former, and on April 12, 1861, the South fired the mortar that started the Civil War by attacking Fort Sumter.

Question 4

At the outset of the Civil War, Lincoln took three acts which were an unprecedented use of Presidential executive powers. What were they?

Answer 4

Congress was not in session, and Lincoln, using his executive powers, acted without its approval to:

1. Suspend the writ of habeas corpus, allowing for the indefinite detention of those suspected of actions against the government
2. Call upon the governors for 75,000 militia troops to serve for three months
3. Authorize spending for military purposes

Question 5

The South possessed two major military advantages during the Civil War. What were they?

Answer 5

The South’s two major military advantages were:

1. Interior lines: the South would be fighting a defensive war, allowing it to move troops to affected areas and offset in part the Union advantage in manpower.
2. Able commanders: the South had a distinct military tradition, and many of the Confederacy’s senior commanders had significant military experience.

Robert E. Lee was so highly regarded at the outset of the War that Lincoln offered him field command of the Union troops.

Question 6

During the Civil War, the South’s military disadvantages became apparent. What were they?

Answer 6

The South’s military disadvantages were plentiful, but the most prominent were:

1. Lack of manpower: the South fielded significantly fewer troops than the North.
2. Lack of industry: an agrarian economy at the outset of the War, the South lacked an industrial base, and was chronically short of arms and ammunition.
3. Lack of a navy: although large numbers of U.S. Army officers joined the Confederacy, the U.S. Navy drew from New England, and remained loyal.

Question 7

What military advantages did the North possess in the Civil War?

Answer 7

The North was in a strong position at the outset of the Civil War, with numerous advantages, including:

1. Large population: Northerners outnumbered Southerners 4 to 1, and an influx of new immigrants (many of whom joined the U.S. Army) added to the advantage.
2. Naval power: drawing primarily from the New England states, the U.S. Navy remained loyal, and was able to blockade the Confederacy.
3. Industry: most industry was based in the North, and Union factories churned out arms and ammunition.

Question 8

Despite its advantages, it took the North four years to subdue the South in the Civil War. What Northern military disadvantage contributed to the lengthy war?

Answer 8

The primary Northern disadvantage was the lack of effective commanders, and a number of Northern generals proved incompetent. Only at the end of the War did an effective Northern military establishment emerge from experienced field commanders in the West, including Ulysses S. Grant, William Sherman, and Philip Sheridan.

Although referring to a different war, the phrase “Lions led by Donkeys” is accurate to describe the Union forces during the early years of the War.

Question 9

How did the Upper South react to Lincoln’s call for 75,000 troops?

Answer 9

The states of the Upper South (Arkansas, Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee) announced they were seceding and joining the Confederacy.

The Confederates rejoiced at the new additions to their ranks, and the Confederate capital was moved to Richmond, Virginia.

Question 10

After the secession of the Upper South, four slave states remained within the Union (Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, and Kentucky). How did Lincoln treat these states?

Answer 10

The secession of the border states would have doubled the Confederacy’s population. Federal troops were dispatched to Delaware and Maryland. Missouri experienced its own miniature civil war and had both a Confederate government and Union government.

Lincoln’s biggest worry was Kentucky, the largest border state. He allowed Kentucky to declare neutrality, foregoing action unless the South invaded. Lincoln said “I hope to have God on my side, but I must have Kentucky.”

Question 11

How did the existence of slavery in the border states affect Lincoln’s actions with slavery?

Answer 11

In an effort to keep the border states on the Union side, or at least neutral, Lincoln did not push to end slavery in the first 2 years of the Civil War.

Lincoln insisted that the war was not about slavery, but about the preservation of the Union.

Question 12

How did the North’s economic advantages compare with those of the South?

Answer 12

While the South’s cotton could be used to exert economic pressure on Europe, the North possessed:

• a significant banking sector that would assist fundraising.
• more railways than the South.
• a large number of clerks and bookkeepers, who proved adept at keeping the Northern forces supplied.

Question 13

Define:

Cotton Diplomacy

Answer 13

Cotton Diplomacy was the South’s attempt to induce recognition and intervention by Great Britain and France. The South believed that Great Britain was dependent on Southern cotton to run its textile mills, upon which the British economy depended. In the early part of the War (before the Union blockade was firmly in place), the South cut off cotton exports.

France was widely believed to be willing to recognize the Confederacy once Britain had done so.

Question 14

How did the Confederacy’s weak central government hinder the South’s warmaking ability?

Answer 14

Dedicated to a strong state-level government and a weak central government, the governors of individual Southern states resisted calls from the Richmond government for troops and funds. The lack of centralized control hampered Jefferson Davis’s ability to defend the Confederacy.

Question 15

Where did the “Copperhead Democrat” nickname come from?

Answer 15

The term “Copperhead” was a nickname for Northern Democrats who opposed the Civil War and who called for immediate peace with the South.

Copperheads are a type of snake, which is why they “earned” their nickname during the Civil War.

Question 16

What was the effect of the Confederate victory at the First Battle of Bull Run?

Answer 16

Having expected a quick conquest of the South, the Confederate victory at Bull Run came as a shock to the North.

The significance of the victory for the Confederacy is that it demonstrated that the War would be a long one.

Question 17

Explain what Radical Republicanism was about.

Answer 17

Radical Republicans themselves never completely existed as a united political group. The only thing that united all of them was their shared desire for the emancipation of Black people and issues of racial justice.

When it came to gold/silver, tariffs, or reform for workers, Radical Republicans were often very divided.

Question 18

Who formed the Congressional “Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War”?

Answer 18

After their defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run, Radical Republicans formed the “Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War”, since they were concerned about how the war was being managed by Lincoln.

Question 19

Explain what Radical Republicans have to do with George B. McClellan.

Answer 19

Radical Republicans urged Lincoln to fire McClellan.

After the first battle of Bull Run was a defeat, Lincoln put McClellan in charge of “the Army of the Potomac”, which was supposed to be the premier fighting force of the Union.

When tasked with conquering the Confederate Capital in 1861, McClellan figuratively choked after incorrectly believing he was outnumbered by Robert E. Lee, the most infamous Confederate General.

With McClellan’s failure evident, Radical Republicans urged Lincoln to fire him. However, Lincoln would wait until after McClellan’s tactical defeat at the Battle of Antietam (a technical victory for the Union) before firing him.

Question 20

After the First Battle of Bull Run, Lincoln agreed to implement General-in-Chief Winfield Scott’s Anaconda Plan. What were the elements of Scott’s Plan?

Answer 20

The Anaconda Plan called for a:

1. Union blockade of Southern ports, cutting off the Confederacy from needed supplies and hard currency.
2. military force to move down the Mississippi, cutting the Confederacy in half.

Scott anticipated this would require a 50,000-man army.

Question 21

What was the Trent Affair?

Answer 21

In late 1861, a Union warship stopped Trent, a British steamer carrying Confederate diplomats James Mason and John Slidell to Europe. Mason and Slidell were captured and imprisoned in the North.

When the British government threatened war, Lincoln quietly released the two men.

Question 22

In 1861 and 1862, Congress passed two Confiscation Acts. What did these Confiscation Acts do?

Answer 22

The First Confiscation Act allowed U.S. forces to confiscate the property of those engaged in rebellion against the Union.

The Second Confiscation Act freed slaves of persons engaged in active rebellion against the Union.

The confiscated property included enslaved people, since that’s what they were under American law, who were deemed contraband-of-war, or “contrabands” for short. As the Union Army moved into the South, the contrabands fleed for the freedom of Union Army camps, many of them picking up guns, putting on uniforms, and fighting for the Union.

Question 23

What was the role of black soldiers in the Civil War?

Answer 23

Over 200,000 Blacks served in the Union Army, and over 37,000 died in the service of their country. Black soldiers served in all-Black units led by white officers.

In the Confederate Army, Blacks served as laborers, digging trenches and hauling supplies, freeing Confederate soldiers for combat operations.

Question 24

What financial reforms did the absence of Southern Democrats in the House permit Republicans to accomplish?

Answer 24

Republicans were able to enact many long-cherished financial reforms, such as the creation of a national bank, and raising tariff rates to finance the War (the Morrill Tariff Act, 1861).

Question 25

What did the Homestead Act (1862) accomplish?

Answer 25

The Homestead Act offered 160 acres of free land upon the Great Plains to anyone who was willing to farm it for five years.

The goal of the Homestead Act was to increase the population of the Great Plains, as well as to stimulate agricultural production.

Question 26

What did the Pacific Railway Act (1862) establish?

Answer 26

The Pacific Railway Act allowed for the building of a transcontinental railway through a Northern route.

Before the Civil War, Southerners in Congress had been advocating for a Southern route which was the impetus behind the Gadsden Purchase. With Southerners absent, Congressional Republicans were able to establish a Northern route instead.

Question 27

Lincoln took advantage of the Union victory at the Battle of Antietam to make what announcement?

Answer 27

Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation. National and International opinion required that Lincoln issued the Proclamation only after a major victory, so as not to appear as an act of desperation.

Question 28

How many slaves did the Emancipation Proclamation free?

Answer 28

The Emancipation Proclamation freed no enslaved people in the Union-controlled states, as it applied solely to those areas in rebellion against the Union.

Tens of thousands of enslaved people, as a result of this proclamation, were liberated. As the war continued, this executive order by Lincoln meant that the more land came under Union control, the more enslaved people would be freed.

Question 29

Why did Cotton Diplomacy fail to induce Great Britain to recognize the Confederacy?

Answer 29

The Confederacy overestimated Britain’s need for Southern cotton because Britain was able to find other sources of cotton, including India and Egypt.

The British working class were strongly antislavery, and after Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation and made ending slavery a prime goal of the War, British political leaders lacked the domestic support to recognize the Confederacy.

Question 30

Although the Confederacy was unable to secure formal British recognition as an independent country, what assistance did the British provide the South?

Answer 30

The British did allow the Confederacy to purchase commerce-raiding ships, including the CSS Alabama (which destroyed some 60 Union ships), and the CSS Shenandoah. Discovering that the Confederates were attempting to purchase two ramming vessels, U.S. Ambassador Charles Francis Adams threatened war, and Britain cancelled the contracts.

The crew of CSS Shenandoah was the last Confederate force to surrender in the Civil War. The Shenendoah had sailed as far north as the Arctic Circle, and as far south as Melbourne, Australia.

Question 31

Define:

Greenbacks

Answer 31

Greenbacks were paper currency, issued by the North during the Civil War. Unlike most currency, Greenbacks were not directly convertible into gold.

During the Civil War, prices in the North rose 80%, attributable, in part, to Greenbacks.

Question 32

In March 1863, Congress passed the Conscription Act. What did the Conscription Act establish?

Answer 32

The Conscription Act established the first military draft in U.S. history. A provision of the law, which allowed anyone to escape the draft by paying $300, created widespread opposition.

As a result, a popular slogan of the time was “Rich Man’s War, Poor Man’s Fight.”

Question 33

What caused the New York City Draft Riots?

Answer 33

The Riots broke out in July 1863, and had a number of causes, including fear among Irish immigrants that if drafted, their jobs would go to Blacks and be unavailable after the War, as well as anger that payment of $300, a large amount in 1863, enabled one to avoid the draft.

Blacks and wealthy whites were attacked, and several homes were burned. By the time the Riot ended with the arrival of federal troops, 117 people had died.

Question 34

The capture of what Mississippi town completed the Union conquest of the Mississippi River?

Answer 34

Vicksburg

Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant captured Vicksburg in 1863, completing Scott’s Anaconda Plan. The capture of Vicksburg was the result of a long siege, and cut off the eastern Confederacy from supplies and men in Texas and Arkansas.

Union victories at Vicksburg and Gettysburg occurred in the same week, and marked the beginning of the end of the War.

Question 35

What battle marked the end of the Confederacy’s offensive capabilities?

Answer 35

The Battle of Gettysburg (1863)

Some 50,000 soldiers fell during the Battle, the bloodiest battle of the Civil War and in American history. General Robert E. Lee’s forces were nearly destroyed, and for the remainder of the War the Confederacy was on the defensive.

Question 36

How did the Civil War affect both Northern and Southern women on the home front?

Answer 36

While men were fighting, women both North and South had to manage farms and plantations, and many women took positions in the factories churning out war materials.

Although women abandoned the factory jobs and gladly accepted the return of men to help on the farm, their wartime sacrifices increased calls for equal rights for women.

Question 37

Who was Clara Barton?

Answer 37

The Civil War saw women become Army nurses in large numbers for the first time. One of the best-known nurses, Clara Barton was designated the “lady in charge” of hospitals on the James River Front in Virginia.

After the War, Barton founded the American Red Cross, and was a prominent advocate for women’s rights.

Question 38

What was Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan?

Answer 38

Lincoln proposed that for a state to be readmitted to the Union, it had to fulfill two requirements:

1. agree to abolish slavery.
2. 10% of the total number of voters from 1860 had to take an oath of future loyalty to the United States.

Given the relative ease of Lincoln’s proposal, the states of Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana fulfilled Lincoln’s requirements. They applied for readmission during the middle of the Civil War in 1863 since only 10% of the population needed to reapply for re-admission.

Question 39

In 1863, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee had fulfilled the requirements of Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan, and applied for readmission to the Union. Their application was denied in Congress. Why?

Answer 39

The Radical Republicans, who controlled Congress, thought that Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan was too easy on the Confederate states so they denied their re-admission into the Union since re-admission was up to Congress.

Question 40

What did the Wade-Davis Bill (1864) require regarding the readmission of former Confederate States?

Answer 40

The Wade-Davis Bill required that, in order to be readmitted, 50% of a former Confederate state’s voters had to take the Ironclad Oath, swearing that they had never taken up arms against the Union, nor supported the Confederacy. Effectively, the Bill sought to keep ex-Confederates from voting and controlling the readmitted states.

Question 41

How did Abraham Lincoln react to the harsh terms of the Wade-Davis Bill (1864)?

Answer 41

Lincoln exercised a pocket veto over the Wade-Davis Bill (meaning that he neither approved nor vetoed it formally, instead letting the Congressional term expire).

Lincoln opposed the Bill’s harsh Ironclad Oath, which required swearing that one had never taken up arms against the Union, nor given aid to the Confederacy. Lincoln preferred that Southerners swear an oath of future loyalty.

Question 42

What happened at Sand Creek, Colorado in 1864?

Answer 42

At Sand Creek, Colorado members of the Colorado Militia attacked a joint Arapahoe and Cheyenne Indian village, killing between 70 and 130 Indians, most of them women and children.

Question 43

Who was Abraham Lincoln’s main opposition in the election of 1864?

Answer 43

General George B. McClellan

General George B. McClellan, who ran on the Democratic Party ticket, promoted immediate peace with the South. For 1864, the Republican Party was renamed the Union Party, in an effort to attract pro-War Democrats. Lincoln chose Andrew Johnson, a pro-War Democrat from Tennessee, as his running mate. Lincoln initially thought his chances at re-election slim, but Sherman’s capture of Atlanta ensured Lincoln’s victory.

Question 44

In 1864, following the capture of Vicksburg, Lincoln placed General Ulysses S. Grant in charge of the Union Army in Virginia. What was Grant’s strategy to defeat General Robert E. Lee’s forces?

Answer 44

Recognizing that the South was exhausted after more than three years of war, Grant relied on simple attrition, using the North’s greater resources in arms and manpower to launch several bloody attacks before laying siege to Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia.

Question 45

Who led the Union forces in Georgia in late 1864?

Answer 45

General William Tecumseh Sherman

After capturing Atlanta, Sherman led his “March to the Sea,” cutting a 60 mile-wide swath of destruction through Georgia, destroying much of the South’s psychological and physical ability to continue the War. Sherman’s march ended with the capture of Savannah on December 21, 1864.

Sherman then turned north, intending to march through the Carolinas and join Grant outside Richmond.

Question 46

What did the 13th amendment do?

Answer 46

The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude except as punishment for a crime.

Question 47

Where did General Lee surrender to General Grant?

Answer 47

Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia

After abandoning Richmond under pressure, Lee was cornered and forced to surrender his Army at the town of Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia on April 9, 1865.

Over the next few weeks, the remaining Confederate forces laid down their arms, and the War ended.

Question 48

John Wilkes Booth’s assassination of President Lincoln was part of a larger conspiracy. Who else was targeted?

Answer 48

The conspiracy was an attempt to completely disable the Union government and targeted Vice President Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward.

The man charged with attacking Johnson spent the evening drinking and never attempted his task. Seward was stabbed, but narrowly survived.

Question 49

What was the Freedman’s Bureau?

Answer 49

Active between 1865 and 1869, the Freedman’s Bureau was a federal agency that assisted newly freed blacks.

The Freedman’s Bureau provided food, clothing, and education, and over a four-year period, taught some 200,000 blacks to read, founded several black colleges, and built 3,000 schools.

Question 50

How did the first Indian reservation system develop?

Answer 50

In the 1830s, Indians had been relegated to the areas west of the Mississippi River, but were allowed freedom of movement. In the 1850s the Indians were assigned (“reserved”) to tracts of land with definite boundaries, a process which increased during the post-Civil War period.