civil war mini quiz

Free Soil Ideology

🃏 Front: What was the Free Soil movement, and why was it significant?
✅ Back:

• Political movement in the 1840s and 1850s opposing the expansion of slavery into western territories.

• Key argument: Slavery harmed free white laborers by creating unfair competition.

• Slogan: "Free soil, free labor, free men."

• Political impact: Led to the creation of the Republican Party (1854), which opposed slavery’s expansion.

• Connection: Increased sectional tensions, setting the stage for the Civil War.

Virginia Ordinance of Secession (April 1861)

🃏 Front: What was the Virginia Ordinance of Secession, and why did Virginia leave the Union?
✅ Back:

• Virginia seceded after Lincoln called for 75,000 troops to suppress the rebellion following Fort Sumter’s attack (April 1861).

• Key reason: Virginia leaders saw federal military action as unconstitutional and a violation of states’ rights.

• Impact: Richmond became the capital of the Confederacy.

Basic Chronology of the Civil War and Secession

🃏 Front: What are the key events in the timeline of secession and the Civil War?
✅ Back:
1⃣ December 1860 – South Carolina secedes (first state).
2⃣ April 1861 – Attack on Fort Sumter (war begins).
3⃣ July 1861 – First Battle of Bull Run (first major battle; Confederate victory).
4⃣ September 1862 – Battle of Antietam (bloodiest single day; leads to Emancipation Proclamation).
5⃣ July 1863 – Battle of Gettysburg (turning point in the war).
6⃣ November 1863 – Gettysburg Address (redefines war goals).
7⃣ November–December 1864 – Sherman’s March to the Sea (total war devastates the South).
8⃣ April 1865 – Lee surrenders at Appomattox Court House.
9⃣ April 1865 – Lincoln assassinated.

Lincoln’s Changing Attitude Toward Emancipation

🃏 Front: How did Lincoln’s views on emancipation change over time?
✅ Back:

• Early war goal: Preserve the Union, not end slavery.

• Mid-1862: After Antietam, Lincoln saw emancipation as a military necessity to weaken the Confederacy.

• Emancipation Proclamation (1863): Freed slaves in Confederate-controlled areas, not border states.

• 1865: Lincoln fully supported the 13th Amendment to abolish slavery completely.

The Emancipation Proclamation (January 1, 1863)

🃏 Front: What did the Emancipation Proclamation do, and why was it significant?
✅ Back:

• Declared enslaved people in Confederate states free but did NOT apply to border states.

• Allowed Black soldiers to serve in the Union Army.

• Shifted the purpose of the war from preserving the Union to ending slavery.

• Kept Britain and France from recognizing the Confederacy.

Union Advantages and Strategy

🃏 Front: What were the Union’s major advantages, and what was its war strategy?
✅ Back:

• Advantages:
  ✔ Larger population (22 million vs. 9 million in the South).
  ✔ Strong industry (90% of U.S. factories).
  ✔ Extensive railroads for troop movement.
  ✔ Naval power to blockade the South.

• Strategy: The Anaconda Plan (by Gen. Winfield Scott):
  🏴‍☠ Blockade Southern ports.
  🏞 Control the Mississippi River to split the Confederacy.
  🏙 Capture Richmond, the Confederate capital.

Opposition to the War in the North

🃏 Front: How did some Northerners oppose the Civil War?
✅ Back:

• Copperheads: Northern Democrats who opposed Lincoln and wanted peace with the South.

• Draft Riots (1863): Violent protests in New York City—mainly by Irish immigrants who resented fighting to free Black slaves.

Major Battles of the Civil War

🃏 Front: What were the most significant battles of the Civil War?
✅ Back:

• First Battle of Bull Run (1861): First major battle, showed war would be long.

• Antietam (1862): Bloodiest single day; led to the Emancipation Proclamation.

• Gettysburg (1863): Turning point; last Confederate attempt to invade the North.

• Vicksburg (1863): Union gained control of the Mississippi River.

Sherman’s March to the Sea (1864)

🃏 Front: What was Sherman’s March to the Sea, and why was it important?
✅ Back:

• Total war campaign led by Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman.

• Marched from Atlanta to Savannah, destroying railroads, farms, and cities.

• Goal: Break Southern morale and force surrender.

Gettysburg Address (November 1863)

🃏 Front: What were the main themes of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address?
✅ Back:

• Democracy & equality: "Government of the people, by the people, for the people."

• Honor the dead by continuing the war for freedom and unity.

• Short but powerful speech—only 272 words.

Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address (March 1865)

🃏 Front: What was Lincoln’s message in his Second Inaugural Address?
✅ Back:

• Reconciliation over revenge: "With malice toward none, with charity for all..."

• Acknowledged slavery as the war’s root cause.

• Prepared the nation for Reconstruction rather than punishment.

Assassination of Lincoln (April 14, 1865)

🃏 Front: Who assassinated Lincoln, and what was the impact?
✅ Back:

• John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.

• Impact:

  • Hurt Reconstruction efforts—Lincoln wanted a lenient approach, but Radical Republicans took control.

  • Increased tension between North and South.