Key Figures and Concepts of the Civil War Era

Who was John Mercer Langston?

• An African American leader who recruited black volunteers to serve as soldiers in the Union Army and was the 1st African American elected to the U.S. Congress.

• A famous abolitionist who wrote extensively against slavery in the 19th century.

• A prominent Civil Rights activist in the 1960s known for his speeches and protests.

• A military general who fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War.

Who led a revolt against slavery in Virginia?

• Nat Turner

• Harriet Tubman

• Frederick Douglass

• Sojourner Truth

Who were the Abolitionists?

• A group of people who campaigned to end slavery.

• A political party that supported the expansion of slavery.

• A religious movement advocating for the rights of slave owners.

• A group of individuals who promoted the idea of colonization of freed slaves.

What was Reconstruction?

• A period of economic growth in the North

• The period following the Civil War during which Congress passed laws designed to help rebuild the country.

• A time when the South was allowed to govern itself without interference

• The era of the Great Depression in the United States

What was the Freedmen's Bureau?

• A federal government agency that provided food, public schools, and medical care for freed African Americans and others in Virginia.

• A private organization that helped freed slaves find jobs in the North.

• A military unit that enforced laws for freed African Americans in the South.

• A charity that provided financial aid to former slave owners.

Who was Clara Barton?

• A famous author known for her novels.

• A Civil War nurse who created the American Red Cross.

• A politician who served as a senator.

• An artist known for her paintings.

What was sharecropping?

• A system where farmers owned their land and sold crops for profit.

• A practice where landowners provided free land to farmers in exchange for labor.

• A system of unfair practices that locked people into poverty, where freedmen and poor white farmers rented land from landowners by promising to pay the owners with a share of their crops.

• A method of farming that allowed farmers to keep all their produce without any obligations.

Who was Mary Bowser?

• An African American Union spy.

• A famous abolitionist leader.

• A Civil War nurse.

• A prominent suffragette.

Who led a raid on the United States Armory at Harpers Ferry?

• John Brown

• Robert E. Lee

• Ulysses S. Grant

• Thomas Jefferson

Who was Elizabeth Van Lew?

• A Virginia abolitionist and spy for the Union Army.

• A Confederate general during the Civil War.

• A famous author of the 19th century.

• A prominent politician in Virginia.