Chapter 20/21 quiz APUSH

Election of 1860

Abraham Lincoln won the presidency on a Republican platform opposing the expansion of slavery, without winning any Southern electoral votes, which convinced the South it had lost political power and led to secession.

Abraham Lincoln

16th president of the United States who focused on preserving the Union and later embraced emancipation as a military strategy and moral necessity.

Secession of the Deep South

States such as South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas seceded first because their economies depended on slavery and they feared Republican control.

Deep South

Region of the South that relied heavily on plantation slavery and seceded early.

Upper South

States including Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Arkansas that seceded after Fort Sumter due to opposition to federal coercion.

Border States

Slave states such as Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, and Delaware that remained loyal to the Union.

Confederate States of America

Government formed in 1861 by seceding Southern states to protect slavery and states’ rights.

Jefferson Davis

President of the Confederacy whose leadership was weakened by internal conflict and strong states’ rights beliefs.

New York Draft Riots

Violent riots in 1863 opposing the Union draft that targeted Black Americans and revealed Northern divisions.

Homestead Act (1862)

Law granting free land to settlers willing to farm it, encouraging westward expansion and free labor.

Clara Barton

Civil War nurse who provided battlefield medical care and later founded the American Red Cross.

Alexander Stephens

Vice president of the Confederacy who declared slavery the foundation of the Confederate government.

Fort Sumter

Federal fort in South Carolina where the first shots of the Civil War were fired in April 1861.

Union Advantages

Greater population, industrial power, railroads, and naval strength that allowed the Union to sustain a long war.

Confederate Advantages

Defensive fighting, strong early leadership, and motivation to protect their homeland.

Anaconda Plan

Union strategy to blockade Southern ports and control the Mississippi River to weaken the Confederacy.

First Bull Run (Manassas)

First major battle of the Civil War in 1861 that showed the war would not be quick.

Stonewall Jackson

Confederate general known for discipline and early battlefield success whose death weakened the South.

George McClellan

Union general skilled at organization but overly cautious in battle.

Battle of Gettysburg

Major Union victory in July 1863 that ended Lee’s invasion of the North and marked a turning point.

Election of 1864

Lincoln’s reelection showed Northern commitment to winning the war and ending slavery.

Merrimack vs Monitor

First battle between ironclad warships that changed naval warfare.

Emancipation Proclamation

1863 order freeing enslaved people in Confederate-held territory and redefining the war’s purpose.

Women in the Civil War

Women served as nurses, workers, spies, and organizers, expanding their roles in society.

Gettysburg Address

Lincoln’s speech redefining the war as a struggle for equality and democracy.

Copperheads

Northern Democrats who opposed the war and favored peace with the Confederacy.

Ulysses S Grant

Union general who used relentless pressure to defeat the Confederacy and accepted Lee’s surrender.

Robert E Lee

Confederate general who commanded the Army of Northern Virginia and surrendered in 1865.

Antietam

Bloodiest single day in U.S. history that allowed Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.

Fredericksburg

Major Union defeat caused by frontal assaults against entrenched Confederate forces.

Sherman’s March

Union campaign of total war through Georgia that destroyed Southern infrastructure and morale.

Wilderness Campaign

Grant’s strategy of constant fighting that wore down Confederate forces.

Appomattox Court House

Site where Robert E Lee surrendered to Ulysses S Grant in April 1865.

John Wilkes Booth

Actor who assassinated Abraham Lincoln in 1865.