Civil War: Fort Sumter and the Confederacy

Read the excerpt from Jefferson Davis’s inaugural address below.

Our present political position has been achieved in a manner unprecedented in the history of nations. It illustrates the American idea that governments rest on the consent of the governed, and that it is the right of the people to alter or abolish them at will whenever they become destructive of the ends for which they were established.

In the excerpt, Davis argues that

• governments should split when they face disagreement.

• governments should be ruled by a small number of people.

• citizens should ask permission before starting a new government.

• citizens have a right to change or destroy governments.

In which Southern state was Fort Sumter located?

• Georgia

• South Carolina

• North Carolina

• Virginia

Lincoln let Confederate leaders know about his plan to resupply Fort Sumter so that

• they would not attack during a Union surrender.

• they could defeat Union forces.

• they would not attack other nearby forts.

• they would not fire on the ships.

Why was Lincoln determined to keep the border states in the Union?

• They contained the most of the South’s commercial harbors.

• They had all voted to secede by narrow margins.

• They contained most of the South’s large plantations.

• They were needed to protect the capital.

Which best describes Abraham Lincoln’s promise to the nation?

• He wanted to prevent any Southern states from seceding.

• He wanted to stop the spread of slavery to the West.

• He wanted to end slavery completely.

• He wanted to prevent the beginning of a civil war.

Which advantage helped Confederate forces win the attack on Fort Sumter?

• the fort’s location

• President Lincoln’s support

• heavy artillery

• US naval battleships

Which was an area of agreement between Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis?

• Both believed the South had a right to leave the Union.

• Both considered Lincoln the rightful leader of the Union.

• Both considered Davis an equal leader to Lincoln.

• Both wanted to avoid a war between the North and South.

On which issue did Lincoln and Davis most strongly disagree?

• whether the North and the South would go to war

• whether slavery would continue to exist in the South

• whether the South had the right to secede

• whether the South had seceded for a reason

In his inaugural address, Lincoln refused to compromise on which of the following issues?

• slavery in Southern states

• slavery in Western states

• secession of Southern states

• war against the South

When he became president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis believed that

• Lincoln would force states that seceded back into the Union.

• the South should declare war against the Union to gain independence.

• secession of the Southern states should be encouraged.

• Southern slavery would remain safe under Lincoln.