Wayground logo

Free Printable Worksheets

Font size

S
M
L
XL
Worksheets

Slavery and the Civil War

Total questions: 65

Worksheet time: 43mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

What is a "Border State"?

a)

A state that borders New York

b)

A state filled with restless children when their WI-FI goes out

c)

A slave state that stayed loyal to the United States

d)

A state that is next to another state

2.

Which of the following were Union Advantages heading into the Civil War? Select all that apply

a)

Large population

b)

More railroads

c)

More money

d)

Better Generals

3.

Which of the following were Confederate advantages heading into the Civil War? Select all that apply

a)

Better generals

b)

Fighting a defensive war to preserve their way of life

c)

Cotton-to trade with European countries

d)

Amount of slaves to fight in the war

e)

Better knowledge of firearms and horses

4.

General Sherman's March to the Sea is best described as an example of...

a)

Marching

b)

Apriling

c)

Total War

d)

Mostly War

5.

"Total War" is best described by...

a)

Allowing the navy to trade with enemy

b)

Destroying farms, town, cities, railroads to hurt the civilian life and destroy enemy morale

c)

Women and children being involved in fighting the enemy

d)

Twice the amount of "Half War"

6.

Which TWO battles are considered the turning points of the Civil War?

a)

Vicksburg

b)

Gettysburg

c)

Shiloh

d)

Antietam

e)

Chancelorsville

7.

Why did President Lincoln give the Gettysburg Address? Select all that apply

a)

To honor those soldiers that fought and died in the Battle of Gettysburg

b)

To continue the goals of the Union, to fight to end slavery and bring the nation together

c)

To look to the future and see a nation united by the citizens

d)

To celebrate the capture of the Mississippi River

8.

How did General Ulysses S. Grant show General Robert E. Lee respect at Appomattox Courthouse? Select all that apply

a)

Grant allowed Lee to keep his personal weapon

b)

Grant allowed Lee to ride out on his horse leading his men

c)

Grant allowed Lee to continue to fight against the Union

d)

Grant followed President Lincoln's words "to have malice toward none, charity for all"

9.

What did President Lincoln mean when he said at his Second Inaugural Address, "With malice toward none, with charity for all."

a)

The United States must allow the former Confederacy to easily and respectfully enter back into the nation

b)

The United States must punish the former Confederacy to punish them for their betrayal

c)

The former Confederacy must apologize for the Civil War and promise to never do it again

d)

The former Confederacy cannot have any representatives in the United States Congress anymore

10.

The Union states were located in the _____ and the Confederate states were located in the _____.

a)

North

South

b)

South

North

c)

North

East

d)

West

East

11.

How did the Union hope to damage Confederate trade and transportation during the Civil War?

a)

By patrolling rivers and the Gulf of Mexico

b)

By attacking railroads

c)

By blockading ports and controlling the Mississippi River

d)

By taking over Southern farms and factories

12.

Why was the surrender at Vicksburg crucial to the success of the Union campaign in the West?

a)

It allowed the Union to control the Mississippi River

b)

It allowed the Union to surround the Capital city

c)

It allowed the Union to Blockade important railroads

d)

It allowed the Union to occupy new territories

13.

This 1857 ruling declared slaves are property and not citizens therefore they had no rights.

a)
Dred Scott v Sandford
b)
McCulloch v Maryland
c)
Emancipation Proclamation
d)
Worcester v Georgia
14.
What is the name for people who wanted to put an end to slavery?
a)
Underground Railroaders 
b)
Suffragists
c)
Bushwackers
d)
Abolitionists
15.

What battle was the single, bloodiest day in the Civil War?

a)

Bull Run

b)

Antietam

c)

Gettysburg

d)

Manassas

16.

Who was the commander of the Union Army after 1864?

a)

Robert E. Lee

b)

Ulysses S. Grant

c)

Abraham Lincoln

d)

Jefferson Davis

17.

At which fort did the first hostilities of the Civil War take place?

a)

Fort Wagner

b)

Fort Sumter

c)

Fort Hood

d)

For Warren

18.

Which of the following was the first all volunteer African American Company from Massachusetts?

a)

The 54th

b)

The Sons of Liberty

c)

The Avengers

d)

The Army of Northern Virginia

19.

What was Douglas's solution in the Kansas-Nebraska Act that would allow the people in the territories to determine whether they would be slave or free?

a)

Habeas Corpus

b)

Popular Sovereignty

c)

Divine Right

d)

Manifest Destiny

20.
A consequence of the Kansas-Nebraska Act was:
a)
violence between pro-slavery and abolitionist groups
b)
gold was discovered in Nebraska
c)

John White led a slave revolt

d)
Dred Scott sued for his freedom
21.

Which sequence of events correctly identifies a rise in tensions, bringing the nation closer to war?

a)

John Brown's Raid, Compromise of 1850, Bleeding Kansas, Kansas-Nebraska Act

b)

Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850, Kansas-Nebraska Act, Bleeding Kansas, Raid on Harper's Ferry.

c)

Compromise of 1850, Missouri Compromise, Bleeding Kansas, John Brown's Raid.

d)

Missouri Compromise, Kansas-Nebraska Act, Bleeding Kansas, Compromise of 1850.

22.

What event occurred right before the southern states started to secede?

a)

Lincoln elected president

b)

Slavery was outlawed in the North

c)

Missouri Compromise

d)

Compromise of 1850

23.

Why did the Union impose a naval blockade on the South during the Civil War?

a)

to promote domestic industries of the South

b)

to strangle the shipment of supplies and trade to and from the confederacy

c)

to motivate enslaved African Americans to migrate North

d)

To prevent Southern states and their sympathizers from rejoining the Union

24.

What was a significant impact of the Emancipation Proclamation?

a)

Slaves in Northern states were freed

b)

The war became a moral contest over slavery

c)

Slaves in Border States were immediately freed

d)

African Americans were admitted into the Confederate army

25.
Where did General Robert E. Lee surrender the army of Northern Virginia?
a)
Gettysburg
b)
Harrisburg
c)
Shiloh
d)
Appomattox
26.
Who assassinated Abraham Lincoln?
a)
John F. Kennedy
b)
John Wilkes Booth 
c)
Andrew Johnson
27.

Which event was the catalyst for the secession of the first seven Southern

states in 1861?

a)

passage of a higher protective tariff

b)

issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation

c)

the election of Abraham Lincoln as President

d)

the shipment of Union supplies to Fort Sumter

28.

What were the major consequences of the Civil War?

a)

the end of slavery and a strengthening of the power of the federal

government

b)

recognition of the rights of states to leave the Union and to nullify

federal laws

c)

an end to racial discrimination and establishment of social equality

throughout the nation

d)

the abolition of slavery in all Northern states and in all federal territories

north of 36° 30' N

29.

Which of the following contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War?

a)

Southerners feared that Northerners intended to abolish slavery.

b)

Southern states wanted a free hand in suppressing local slave revolts.

c)

The

Dred Scott

decision led Northern state officials to defy federal law.

d)

Northerners opposed the shipment of Southern cotton to Great Britain.

30.

The excerpt below is from a recently written history of the Civil War.

What were the rights and liberties for which Confederates contended? The

right to own slaves; the liberty to take this property into the territories; freedom from the coercive powers of a centralized government.

—James McPherson, The Battle Cry of Freedom

What contradiction does this Civil War historian find in the secession of the Southern states?

a)

Confederates were outnumbered by Northerners

b)

Confederates demanded the freedom to enslave others

c)

Confederates believed that states had the right to leave the Union.

d)

Confederates felt that slaves were better treated than Northern factory

workers.

31.

Use the following chart to answer the question that follows.


According to the bar graph, what region had the larger share of resources in the United States?

a)

The South

b)

The North

c)

The West

d)

All regions had equal amount of resources

32.

What was the original goal of the Union at the start of the Civil War?

a)

Ban slavery

b)

Restore the Union

c)

Separate from the United States

d)

Make slavery legal everywhere

33.

Disadvantages of the South during the Civil War included having a small navy, fewer railroads, and ______________.

a)

Lack of agricultural land

b)

larger population

c)

Inexperienced military leaders

d)

Lack of industries

34.

Why was the Battle of Gettysburg a turning point in the war?

a)

General Lee surrendered to the Union army after the battle.

b)

There were nearly 48,000 casualties of the battle.

c)

Lincoln emancipated the slaves after the Union victory at the battle.

d)

It was the first major victory in the east for the Union and it raised the troops morale

35.

At the end of which battle did General Grant and his troops secure control of the Mississippi River?

a)

Antietam

b)

Gettysburg

c)

Vicksburg

d)

Richmond

36.

Why did southern states feel threatened by the election of 1860?

a)

The South feared that slaves would be given citizenship rights and sue for their freedom.

b)

The South feared that Democrats would gain control of Congress.

c)

The South feared that slavery would be abolished throughout the nation.

d)

The South feared that the new president would prohibit slavery in the western territories.

37.

Why did the battle of Fort Sumter occur?

a)

South Carolinia had seceded and wanted the fort.

b)

The Union wanted the fort.

c)

The Confederacy wanted the gold stored in the fort.

d)

The slaves wanted the fort.

38.

What two states were added to the Union in order to keep free and slave representation even?

a)

Florida and Wyoming

b)

Kansas and Nebraska

c)

Maine and Missouri

d)

Utah and New Mexico

39.

What previous compromise was overturned as a result of the passage of the Kansas Nebraska Act?

a)

The Tenth Amendment

b)

The Missouri Compromise

c)

The Connecticut Compromise

d)

Compromise of 1850

40.

What piece of legislation led to the violence in Kansas?

a)

Compromise of 1820

b)

Compromise of 1850

c)

Fugitive Slave Act

d)

Kansas Nebraska Act

41.

Who was the violent abolitionist that caused the Pottawatomie Massacre and eventually led the raid on Harpers Ferry?

a)

Henry Clay

b)

Frederick Douglass

c)

John Brown

d)

Joseph Smith

42.
An abolitionist is 
a)
a person who put the welfare of the country above their region
b)
a person in favor of slavery
c)
a person who wanted to end slavery
d)
a person who wanted to end the spread of slavery
43.

What did Uncle Tom’s Cabin convince the North of?

a)

That it was ok to own a slave

b)

That you shouldn’t have more than two slaves

c)

That Uncle Tom had a nice cabin

d)

That slavery was wrong

44.

When was the American Civil War

a)

1941-1945

b)

1775-1783

c)

1861-1865

d)

1846-1848

45.

Who is Robert E. Lee?

a)

Commander of the Union forces and top General in the North

b)

President of the Confederacy during the Civil War

c)

Commander of the Northern Virginia Army and top General in the South

46.
The process of allowing people of each state or territory to decide for themselves whether to allow slavery was called...
a)
voter compromise.
b)
direct election.
c)
secession.
d)
popular sovereignty.
47.

To withdraw from means

a)

sectionalism

b)

to secede

c)

to be a fugitive

d)

to be a free state

48.

What was the purpose of the Fugitive Slave Act?

a)

To return escaped slaves to back to their owners

b)

To return escaped slaves to freedom

c)

To return southern states back to the Union

d)

To return northern states back to the Union

49.

Union strategy to win the Civil War. Plan was to use a naval blockade to block Southern shipping; cut Louisiana and Texas off from the rest of the South by controlling the Mississippi River, then divide the remaining states in half. Plan was to strangle the South's economy.

a)

Restrictive Plan

b)

Blitzkrieg

c)

Python Plan

d)

Anaconda Plan

50.

1857 Supreme Court case that declared that people of African ancestry could never be citizens of the United States and, as such, had no right to sue in Federal Court. It also declared the Missouri Compromise of 1820 unconstitutional as the Federal Government had no right to make decisions regarding slavery for the states.

a)

Dred Scott Decision

b)

Uncle Tom's Cabin

c)

Emancipation Proclamation

d)

Abolitionist Movement

51.

1863 Presidential Proclamation that declared all slaves in States actively participating in rebellion against the United States to be free. This proclamation officially changed the expressed purpose of the Civil War from "A War to Preserve The Union" to "A War to End Slavery," adding a "moral" reason to fight the Civil War.

a)

Gettysburg Address

b)

Emancipation Proclamation

c)

Declaration of Independence

d)

Articles of Confederation

52.

1863. Abraham Lincoln. One of the most famous documents in US History, it is the speech given by Abraham Lincoln dedicating the sight of the Battle of Gettysburg as a national cemetery.

a)

Emancipation Proclamation

b)

Battle of Gettysburg

c)

Lincoln Memorial

d)

Gettysburg Address

53.

Created Nebraska Territory and Kansas Territory and allowed each territory to decide the issue of slavery on the basis of popular sovereignty. The long-standing compromise would have to be repealed. The North was outraged. The passage of this Act and the violence that followed have been thought to have hastened the Country into Civil War.

a)

Missouri Compromise (of 1820)

b)

Kansas-Nebraska Act

c)

Fugitive Slave Law

d)

Secession by the Southern States

54.

The southern states leaned in on this idea: the rights belonging to the various states, especially with reference to the strict interpretation of the constitution, by which all rights not delegated by the Constitution to the federal government belong to the states.

a)

Federalism

b)

Central Government

c)

Enumeration of Rights

d)

States' Rights

55.

Includes California admitted as a free state, the Fugitive Slave Act, Made popular sovereignty in most other states from Mexican-American War

a)

Missouri Compromise

b)

Compromise of 1850

c)

Fugitive Act Compromise

d)

Kansas-Nebraska Act

56.

During the civil war, a devastating total war military campaign, led by union general William Tecumseh Sherman, that involved marching 60,000 union troops through Georgia from Atlanta to Savannah and destroying everything along their way.

a)

Sherman's March to Sea

b)

Plan of Total Destruction

c)

Union Victory March

d)

Outcome of the Emancipation Proclamation

57.

Which of the following was a major cause of early Confederate battle victories during the Civil War?

a)

Industrial output

b)

Foreign assistance

c)

Immigrant population

d)

Military leadership

58.

Who led the slave revolts in Virginia?

a)

Andrew Johnson

b)

Nat Turner

c)

William Loyd Garrison and Harriet Beecher Stowe

d)

Uncle Tom

59.

Who was the Union General that led the Peninsular Campaign and the Battle of Antietem? He was well known for being too cautious and was eventually fired by Lincoln.

a)

Ullysses S Grant

b)

George Gordon Meade

c)

George B McClellan

d)

Winfield Scott

60.

Which state supplied the first troops to the Union army after Lincoln's call for volunteers in April 1861?

a)

Minnesota

b)

Pennsylvania

c)

New York

d)

Ohio

61.

This crop became the dominant cash crop of much of the deep south in the 1800's:

a)

Tobacco

b)

Cotton

c)

Indigo

d)

Corn

62.

Grant laid siege to this southern city for 9 months in 1864-1865, they even dug a tunnel which was eventually called the Battle of the Crater. This was the final major battle in the east:

a)

Richmond

b)

Chancellorsville

c)

Fredericksburg

d)

Petersburg

63.

How many soldiers died during the Civil War?

a)

58,000

b)

298,000

c)

620,000

d)

4.5 million

64.

True or false: Most southerners owned slaves.

a)

True

b)

False

c)

I don't know

65.

What was the major problem with leading armies so large as were seen in the American Civil War? Click all that apply

a)

Feeding them

b)

Moving them

c)

Keeping them clean and free from disease

d)

Finding them