Civil War Quiz – Student Handout

What does it mean to secede?

• To vote in an election

• To break away from a country or union

• To start a new government peacefully

• To make a new law

Who was the President of the United States during the Civil War?

• George Washington

• Abraham Lincoln

• Andrew Jackson

• Thomas Jefferson

What was the name of the northern states that stayed loyal to the U.S. government?

• Confederacy

• Border States

• Union

• Abolitionists

The Confederacy was made up of...

• A) States that stayed with the Union

• B) States that seceded from the Union

• C) Only border states

• D) Northern free states

Which was a strength of the Union?

• More railroads and factories

• Better knowledge of the land

• Stronger generals at the start

• More farmland

Who was the leading Confederate general?

• Ulysses S. Grant

• Robert E. Lee

• George Washington

• Stonewall Jackson

Who was the top Union general by the end of the war?

• Robert E. Lee

• William T. Sherman

• Ulysses S. Grant

• Jefferson Davis

What does “total war” mean?

• Only fighting soldiers in battle

• Destroying enemy armies and also their supplies, land, and will to fight

• A short war with no major battles

• A war fought only at sea

What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?

• Ended the entire Civil War

• Freed all enslaved people in the Confederacy

• Gave women the right to vote

What was the main cause of the Civil War?

• Slavery and states' rights

• Tax policies

• Foreign invasions

• The Gold Rush