Chapter 20-22 Study Questions
(Note: The last two chapters focused on the key questions of the avoidability and/or inevitability of the monumental Civil War. If people before the war had had historical foresight and could have seen the true horror of the four-year fight to the death which was to follow, do you think that leaders might have worked harder to find a compromise solution? Might the North have let the South go in peace?)
1. Lincoln, Fort Sumter, and War Aims (pp. 434–438) a. Read the Lincoln quote leading off the chapter carefully. Lincoln had a unique opportunity and responsibility to define the objectives of the conflict from the Union perspective. He clearly does not say that an objective of the war is to free the slaves. What is the “central idea” for Lincoln? *** Why did he think that letting the South go in peace would make the idea of popular government “an absurdity”?
b. List three of the more practical reasons for resisting southern secession mentioned by the authors in the first section. *** Then put a (+) or a (-) by each one, depending on whether or not you feel that the problem was serious enough to have used force to keep the South in the Union.
(+) or (-)
(1)
(2)
(3)
c. Lincoln’s problem of uniting the North to resist southern secession was aided when southern soldiers fired first, on the federal Fort _________ in the harbor at _____________, South Carolina, in _______ of 1861. He knew that the balance of power could be tipped by the crucial border states of ___________, ___________, ____________, ____________, and ____________. How were Lincoln’s stated war aims designed to appeal to these slave-holding border states?
2. Balance of Forces (pp. 438–441) List below some of the relative strengths of both the North and South (assuming that a strength of one side is a weakness of the other) going into the war.
SOUTH NORTH
3. Foreign Involvement (pp. 441–444) a. How do the authors define the differing attitudes toward southern independence between the European aristocracy and the masses of working people?
(1) Aristocracy:
(2) Masses:
b. Two incidents almost brought Britain, which needed cotton imports from the South, into the war. One was the _________ Affair in which the U.S. took two Confederate diplomats off an English ship. The other involved the willingness of the British to build ships for the South, which could be used for raids such as that of the _______________ (ship name), on northern shipping.
4. Lincoln and Liberties (pp. 444–447) a. The authors imply here that Lincoln’s personality and temperament were better suited to national leadership in an emergency than Jefferson Davis because Davis was too particular about following his own Constitution. List two examples of Lincoln’s exercise of arbitrary power. *** What do you think of such actions in wartime?
(1)
(2)
(3) Opinion:
b. Although most fighting men on both sides were volunteers, the _________ (North or South) had a deeper pool of manpower. Looking at the draft laws, cite an example for both North and South to support the charge that it was “a rich man's war but a poor man's fight.”
(1) North:
(2) South:
5. Economic Aspects of War (pp. 447–450) a. (Note: You should have a basic understanding of who pays the huge cost of fighting a war. Especially try to grasp the inflationary impact of a government just printing more paper currency to pay its bills.) The ____________ (North or South) was better able financially to pay for the war. As you read the section beginning on p. 447, put a (+) in the column of the side that relied most heavily on each of these three means of financing, and a (-) in the other column. NORTH SOUTH
(1) Taxes and tariffs:
(2) Bonds and borrowing:
(3) Printing money:
b. Compare and contrast how the North and the South emerged from the war economically.
(1) North:
(2) South:
c. During the war, many women went into industrial employment for the first time. In the “caring professions,” Dr. Elizabeth ____________ helped organize the U.S. ____________ Commission (predecessor to today’s Red Cross) and Clara __________ helped expand and transform the ____________ profession.
6. Strategy and Early Battles (pp. 451–456) The authors contend that had the North prevailed at the first “picnic-like” Battle of ________ Run (just south of Washington) in July 1861, southern states might have been re-admitted on easy terms. But after the bloody ________________ Campaign, in which Union forces under young General George ______________ failed to take the Confederate capital of ______________, Virginia, the Union strategy turned to “total war.” List the six elements of the new northern strategy mentioned on pp. 455–456?
1. 4.
2. 5.
3. 6.
7. Antietam and Emancipation, 1862 (pp. 456–462) a. Note the importance of the embargo on southern ports (keeping cotton in and war supplies out). Southerners tried to get around the embargo, partially through the use of their ironclad ship named the _______________, which in 1862 was challenged by the Northern “cheesebox on a raft,” the ________________.
b. Emboldened by his successes, Confederate Gen. Robert E. _______ advanced his army into northern territory and, in September 18_____, was engaged at Antietam Creek, in the western part of the state of ______________. This bloody battle was militarily a draw. However, list the two reasons why the authors call this engagement “the most decisive of the Civil War.”
(1)
(2)
c. What were Lincoln’s objectives in issuing the Emancipation Proclamation? How did this proclamation signal a change in northern war aims?
(1) Objectives:
(2) Changed war aims:
d. Why was the proclamation technically less than it appeared? Why do the authors summarize by saying “. . . where he could he would not, and where he would he could not”?
e. About ___________ blacks joined the army after Emancipation, representing about ____percent of Union forces, including the famed Massachusetts 54th, which attacked Fort Wagner in South Carolina (dramatized in the feature film Glory).
8. War at Midpoint (pp. 462–468) After Antietam, Lincoln tried a variety of new generals, who proceeded to chase Lee’s army around northern Virginia. Lee and his brilliant lieutenant “Stonewall” ____________ were then encouraged by a stunning victory at C_________________ to advance into the North again in the hope of breaking the Union will to fight. For three days in July 18____, at the Pennsylvania town of G_______________, his troops assumed the unaccustomed offensive role against dug-in Union Army troops under General George G. ____________. After the famous “charge” by troops under Confederate General George ___________ on the last day, Lee was forced to withdraw. His army would fight on for two years but was never again a real threat. In the west, the Union strategy was to capture the mouth of the Mississippi at New Orleans and then for General Ulysses S. __________ to move south and capture the rest of the river. This was accomplished with the Union victory at V_______________ on the day after the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg. The remainder of the western strategy involved the brutal march under Union Gen. William Tecumseh _____________ from the Cumberland Mountains, through the burning of A__________ (Gone With The Wind), finally reaching the sea at Savannah.
9. Politics of War (pp. 468–471) Objections to the war were always strong in the North, especially among “Peace” Democrats mostly in the Midwest and the so-called ______________ (a poisonous snake), who openly obstructed the war (using many tactics perfected later by Vietnam War protesters). Lincoln treated these critics harshly and, in 1864, formed a political coalition between Republicans and “War” Democrats called the __________ Party, which - to balance the ticket - chose as Lincoln’s running mate the “War” Democrat from Tennessee, Andrew ____________. Lincoln was re-elected against the Democratic candidate, the erstwhile General _____________.
10. War’s End and Lincoln’s Death (pp. 471–474) After Gettysburg, Grant was made commander of all Union armies and proceeded to chased Lee around the Virginia countryside in a series of bloody battles until Lee was forced to surrender at ________________ Court House in April 18____. Less than two weeks later, Lincoln was killed at ________ Theater by southern sympathizer John Wilkes _________. Lincoln and his Vice President Johnson had many of the same views about quickly binding up the wounds of war and letting the Southern states back into the Union on relatively easy terms. Why then do the authors argue on p. 473 that the highly contentious battle with Congress over a harsh or gentle “reconstruction” policy after the war would have turned out much differently (and better!) had Lincoln lived? *** Any thoughts on this hypothetical conclusion?
11. Problems of Peace (pp. 477–479) In this section, the authors describe the collapsed economy and social structure of the South and the “beaten but unbent” attitude of many white southerners. List in your own words the four main questions that the authors say faced the country after the war.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
12. The Freed Slaves (pp. 479–481) After the war, Congress established the ______________ Bureau under sympathetic Gen. Oliver O. _____________ (Note: He helped found a major university in Washington, D.C., that is named after him.) to provide basic services, education, and confiscated land to the newly freed but unprepared ex-slaves. (Note: This was the first attempt by the federal government to provide direct social services to the population.) *** What do you think was the most immediate priority of black families in the South, education or land to farm? Why do you think the North would not or could not deliver on its promise of “40 acres and a mule”?
13. Johnson vs. Congress (pp. 481-489) The essential issue in the dispute after the war was whether to bind up the wounds as quickly as possible - even if that meant perpetuating much of the old southern social structure—versus those who felt that, to justify the horrors of a four-year war, the North had a responsibility to force significant change on the South—land redistribution, education, punishment for rebels, political and economic rights for freed slaves, etc. The basic problem was indecision: for two years the country started out under the easy presidential Reconstruction and then shifted abruptly to the tough version when Congress took over.
a. The authors say that President Andrew _____________ was clearly not fit by ideology or temperament to lead the postwar Reconstruction. Nevertheless, he had agreed with __________ before his death that easy terms should be offered. With Congress not in session, Johnson issued a proclamation that states could be re-admitted simply by renouncing secession, repudiating Confederate debts, and ratifying the ______ Amendment outlawing slavery. Southern states, believing that they would not be occupied by a northern army, began instituting the infamous _________ Codes, which regulated the social behavior of freed blacks and essentially bound them economically to their former masters.
b. Aroused, Congress refused to seat the “whitewashed rebels” who showed up in Washington to represent the states to be re-admitted under Johnson’s plan. In March 1866, Congress passed a __________ Rights Bill over Johnson’s veto and then required that Southern states also ratify the new ____ Amendment, which granted full rights of citizenship, excluding voting, to the freedmen. Assurance of voting rights would be required later under the ____ Amendment. The Radical Republicans strengthened their position in the 1866 congressional elections and then prepared to impose their own plan under the leadership in the Senate of Charles ____________ and in the House of Thaddeus _______________.
c. Read the following quotes from Lincoln and Stevens, then fill in the chart below.
Abraham Lincoln - Second Inaugural Address (March 4, 1865)
With malice toward none, with charity for all . . . let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
Thaddeus Stevens
The whole fabric of Southern society must be changed. . . . The Southern states have been despotisms, not governments of the people. . . . If the South is ever to be made a safe republic, let her lands be cultivated by the toil of the owners or the free labor of intelligent citizens. This must be done even though it drives her nobility into exile. If they go, all the better.
What objectives have the highest priority for Lincoln and for Stevens and which objectives are of lesser or no priority? What is the underlying assumption of both men about why the war was fought and why so many sacrifices were made?
Lincoln Stevens
(1) High priority:
(2) Low priority:
(3) Underlying assumption:
c. *** If you had been a northerner after the war, do you think you would have been (1) a Radical ready to use government power and money to force change in the South, or (2) would you have been in the Moderate camp, passing legal protections for the freedmen but leaving it largely up to the states to rebuild their economies and societies? Why?
14. Military Reconstruction, 1867–1877 (pp. 489–494) a. Congress finally sent in the troops to occupy ____ (number) military districts in 18___, two years after the war ended. The purpose was largely to enfranchise blacks eventually through passage of the ____ Amendment, and to set up friendly state governments dominated by the Republican Party. This generated massive resentment on the part of white southerners. *** Do you think that military occupation would have been more acceptable in the South if it had been instituted immediately after the war? Why or why not?
b. *** What do you think of the requirement that freed slaves, kept largely illiterate by their former masters, be given immediate voting privileges?
c. After the northern troops left each state, the friendly Republican state governments were replaced by “Redeemer” governments. Who were the “Redeemers”?
d. Why were women’s rights activists such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony upset by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments?
e. Be careful of the connotations of the words we use. How did southerners define the following terms and how might sympathetic northerners describe the same people?
Southerners Northerners
(1) “Scalawags”:
(2) “Carpetbaggers”:
f. Try to summarize briefly the authors’ conclusions (pp. 491–493) about the performance of state governments under Radical Reconstruction, during which blacks exercised full political rights.
g. List two methods used by the Ku Klux Klan and others to keep blacks from voting and generally to keep them subservient.
(1)
(2)
