Reading Quiz (p.141-149) Terms

Question 1

Presidential candidates for 1860

Answer 1

Douglas - northern Democrat (12 e.v.)
Breckinridge - southern Democrat (72)
Lincoln - Republican (180)
Bell - Constitutional Union Party (39)

Question 2

States that seceded

Answer 2

South Carolina (Dec 12, 1860); Mississippi (Jan 9); Florida (Jan 10); Alabama (Jan 11); Georgia (Jan 19); Louisiana (Jan 26); Texas (Feb 1)

Question 3

Border states

Answer 3

theborder stateswereslave statesthat did not secede from theUnion. Four slave states never declared a secession:Delaware,Kentucky,Maryland, andMissouri. Four others did not declare secession until after theBattle of Fort Sumter:Arkansas,North Carolina,Tennessee, andVirginia. Also included as a border state during the war isWest Virginia, which broke away from Virginia and became a new state in the Union in 1863.

Question 4

Trent situation

Answer 4

The Trent Affair was a diplomatic crisis that took place between the United States and Great Britain from November to December 1861, during the U.S. Civil War. The crisis erupted after the captain of the USS San Jacinto ordered the arrest of two Confederate envoys sailing to Europe aboard a British mail ship, the Trent, in order to seek support for the South in the Civil War. The British, who had not taken sides in the war, were outraged and claimed the seizure of a neutral ship by the U.S. Navy was a violation of international law. In the end, President Abraham Lincoln’s administration released the envoys and averted an armed conflict with Britain.

Question 5

Joint Committee on Conduct of the War

Answer 5

Approved Dec 9, 1861. Committee of radical Republicans was given broad investigatory powers to summon persons to testify and demand papers to document the progress of the war. Members knew little about conducting war, but all shared distrust for the military. Sought to humiliate generals. Abused their authority. Attacked McClellan and the President.

Question 6

greenbacks

Answer 6

Cost of war mounted to $2million/day. Congress passed bill authorizing the issuance of greenbacks (paper money) as legal tender.

Question 7

Homestead Act

Answer 7

May 20, 1862. Provided 160 acres of public land to any person who would reside on it and farm for five years.

Question 8

Morrill Land Grant College Act

Answer 8

June 17, 1862. Provided 30,000 acres of land to each member of Congress to finance thee establishment of public agricultural and mechanical institutions within the states and territories.

Question 9

Internal Revenue Act of 1862

Answer 9

Taxed a wide range of items, few of which survived the war. The Bureau of Internal Revenue created by this measure became a permanent fixture of the federal government.

Question 10

Pacific Railroad Act

Answer 10

Provided land and funds for the building of what would become a transcontinental railroad from Omaha (NE) to Sacramento (CA).

Question 11

McClellan

Answer 11

A major general for the Union during the American Civil War. He organized the famous Army of the Potomac and served briefly (November 1861 to March 1862) as the general-in-chief of the Union Army. Early in the war, McClellan played an important role in raising a well-trained and organized army for the Union. Although McClellan was meticulous in his planning and preparations, these very characteristics hampered his ability to challenge aggressive opponents in a fast-moving battlefield environment.

Question 12

Farragut

Answer 12

Led a naval squadron that ran the Confederate defenses below New Orleans in April 1862 and bombarded the city. For his success, Farragut was named a rear admiral, the first to be accorded that rank.

Question 13

Antietam

Answer 13

On September 17, 1862, Generals Robert E. Lee and George McClellan faced off near Antietam creek in Sharpsburg, Maryland, in the the first battle of the American Civil War to be fought on northern soil.Though McClellan failed to utilize his numerical superiority to crush Lee’s army, he was able to check the Confederate advance into the north. After a string ofUnion defeats, this tactical victory provided Abraham Lincoln the political cover he needed to issue his Emancipation Proclamation. Though the result of the battle was inconclusive, it remains the bloodiest single day in American history, with more than 22,000 casualties.

Question 14

Merrimac & Monitor

Answer 14

Battle occurred on March 8, 1862, when two ironclads, the Merrimac and the Monitor—their hulls shielded in metal—engaged in a fide-hour battle on the Jame River that resulted in a draw. The age of wooded fighting ships ended that day.

Question 15

habeas corpus

Answer 15

federal courts can use the writ of habeas corpus to determine if a state’s detention of a prisoner is valid.A writ of habeas corpus is used to bring a prisoner or other detainee before the court to determine if the person’s imprisonment or detention is lawful. The Habeas Corpus Act of 1863 allowed the President to suspend the writ for the duration of the war.

Question 16

Copperheads

Answer 16

A vocal faction of Democrats located in the Northern United States of the Union who opposed the American Civil War, wanting an immediate peace settlement with the Confederates.

Question 17

Chancellorsville

Answer 17

The Battle of Chancellorsville, fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863, is widely considered to be Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s greatest victory during the American Civil War. Facing an enemy force nearly twice the size of his own, Lee daringly split his troops in two, confronting and surprising Union Gen. Joseph Hooker. Though Hooker still held numerical superiority, he did not press this advantage, instead falling back to defensive positions. When Lee once again split his forces and attacked, Hooker was forced to retreat across the Rappahannock River. Lee’s victory came at a high cost, however. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, one of his most trusted generals, was mortally wounded by friendly fire during the battle.

Question 18

Vicksburg

Answer 18

From the spring of 1862 until July 1863, during the American Civil War (1861-65), Union forces waged a campaign to take the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi, which lay on the east bank of the Mississippi River, halfway between Memphisto the northand New Orleansto the south.The capture of Vicksburg divided the Confederacy and proved the military genius of Union General Ulysses S. Grant (1822-85).

Question 19

Gettysburg

Answer 19

The Battle of Gettysburg, fought from July 1 to July 3, 1863, is considered the most important engagement of the American Civil War. After a great victory over Union forces at Chancellorsville, General Robert E. Lee marched his Army of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania in late June 1863. On July 1, the advancing Confederates clashed with the Union’s Army of the Potomac, commanded by General George G. Meade, at the crossroads town of Gettysburg. The next day saw even heavier fighting, as the Confederates attacked the Federals on both left and right. On July 3, Lee ordered an attack by fewer than 15,000 troops on the enemy’s center at Cemetery Ridge. The assault, known as “Pickett’s Charge,” managed to pierce the Union lines but eventually failed, at the cost of thousands of rebel casualties, and Lee was forced to withdraw his battered army toward Virginia on July 4.