Causes of Civil War (25 Questions)

The following is a quiz with the Cause of the Civil War based questions.

Take this quiz as often as you would like. You goal for this exam should be 100% in order to receive credit for Part A.

1

In the period between 1820 and 1860, Southerners wanted slavery extended to the Western territories so that the South could

	continue to elect Southern Presidents
	continue to dominate the Supreme Court
	keep enough strength in the Senate to protect Southern interests
	use slave labor to expand Southern industries

2 Base your answer on the poster below and on your knowledge of social studies.

Source: Naitonal Archives

Which government action most directly prompted the publication of this poster?

	issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation
	passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act
	rejection of the Wilmot Proviso
	adoption of the Missouri Compromise

3 What is a similarity between the Radical Republicans and the modern Democratic Party?

	They both were mainly concerned with improving the status of African Americans.
	They both worked to reduce income taxes.
	They both contributed directly to the start of a major war.
	They both sought to improve the conditions of poor or oppressed peoples.

4 What was a major purpose of the Emancipation Proclamation?

	to give land to freedmen
	to end Jim Crow laws in the South
	to help the North win the Civil War
	to provide for new state governments

5 The suspension of habeas corpus during the Civil War and the passage of the USA Patriot Act during the war on terror both illustrate the national government's willingness to

	uphold the rights of minority citizens
	tolerate criticism of its wartime policies
	expand the power of the states to prosecute radical groups
	limit civil liberties when the nation is facing immediate danger

6 Base your answer to the question on the passage below and on your knowledge of social studies.

... As to the policy I "seem to be pursuing" as you say, I have not meant to leave any one in doubt. I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored; the nearer the Union will be "the Union as it was." If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views .... — President Abraham Lincoln, Letter to Horace Greeley, August 22, 1862

According to the passage, President Abraham Lincoln's primary goal in fighting the Civil War was to

	advance the cause of Northern abolitionists
	use any means necessary to save the Union
	extend the franchise to African Americans in the army
	free only those African Americans who were enslaved in Confederate territory

7 Base your answer on the following statements.

• Statement A: Increased the size of the army without congressional authorization
• Statement B: Arrested and jailed anti-Unionists without giving reason
• Statement C: Censored some anti-Union newspapers and had some editors and publishers arrested

Which would be the best heading for the list above?

	Lincoln's wartime expansion of presidential power.
	Reasons for the impeachment of Andrew Johnson.
	Checks and balances that effectively limited President Lincoln's actions.
	Limitations on individual rights in the Bill of Rights.

8 As the Civil War began, what did President Abraham Lincoln state his primary goal was?

	to end slavery
	to set new national boundaries
	to increase congressional powers
	to preserve the Union

9 How did the Civil War affect the Northern economy?

	causing a severe depression
	increasing unemployment rates
	decreasing demand for agricultural products
	stimulating industrialization

10 Base your answer on the following chart and on your knowledge of social studies.

Source: James West Davidson et al., The American Nation, Prentice Hall, 2000; 1860 Census, U.S. Census Bureau (adapted)

Which generalization is supported by the information in the chart?

	The South exported more manufactured goods than the North.
	The North would have more difficulty supplying an army than the South.
	The North had greater economic strength than the South.
	The South would be better able to transport an army than the North.

11 Which argument was used by President Abraham Lincoln to explain his policy of leniency toward the South after the Civil War?

	Most Southerners have remained loyal to the Union during the war.
	Most Southerners are willing to grant equality to formerly enslaved persons.
	The federal government has no authority to punish states for secession.
	Healing the nation’s wounds quickly is essential.

12 What was one important geographic reason the United States was able to maintain a foreign policy of neutrality throughout most of the 19th century?

	The Atlantic Ocean provided a buffer from European interference.
	Extensive mountain ranges along the Pacific coastline prevented invasions.
	Scarce natural resources discouraged international trade.
	European immigrants had rapid communication with their homelands.

13 What was a major foreign policy goal of the United States during the first half of the 1800s?

	forming defense alliances with European nations
	establishing colonies in the Caribbean and Latin America
	maintaining neutrality while increasing foreign trade
	continuing the transatlantic African slave trade

14 A major reason for Commodore Matthew Perry's 1854 visit to Japan was to

	prevent Japanese domination of the Pacific region
	open United States trade relations with Japan
	encourage immigration from Japan
	establish a naval base in Japan

15 Base your answer on the quotation below and on your knowledge of social studies.

... In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, protect, and defend it."... – President Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861

President Lincoln made this statement in an effort to

	urge Congress to spend money to buy the freedom of slaves
	convince Southerners that he posed no threat to their way of life
	offer to compromise his position regarding territorial expansion of slavery
	persuade Americans that war between the North and South was unavoidable

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