8th Grade Civil War Test

Directions: Use the following words to answer questions 1-6.

  1. Emancipation ProclamationB. CopperheadsC. Conscription

D. Income TaxE. GreenbacksF. 13th Amendment

  1. An executive order issued by Abraham Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863, freeing slaves in all regions in rebellionagainst the Union.
  2. Abraham Lincoln’s main political opponents; Northerners who wanted to work out a compromise with the South.
  3. A law that required men to serve in the military or be drafted.
  4. Paper currency issued by the Federal Government during the Civil War.
  5. A tax on earnings
  6. An amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1865, banning slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States.

Directions: Use the following words to answer questions 7-13

  1. Anaconda PlanB. Border StatesC. BlockadeD. Cavalry

E. King CottonF. Minie BallsG. Ironclad

  1. Cotton was called this because it was important to the world market and the South grew most of the cotton from Europe’s mills.
  2. A bullet with a hollow base.
  3. A slave state that bordered states in which slavery was illegal.
  4. A warship covered with iron.
  5. A strategy by which the Union proposed to defeat the Confederacy in the Civil War.
  6. When armed forces prevent the transportation of goods or people into or out of an area.
  7. Soldiers on horseback.

Directions: Choose the letter of the best answer.

  1. One of the North’s advantages in the Civil War was
  1. The fact that it was fighting a defensive war.
  2. Its brilliant officers.
  3. Its factories.
  4. Its huge cotton crop.
  1. Why did Lincoln have a hard time finding good generals for the Union army?
  1. Because West Point was still a small school.
  2. Because most army officers were part-time volunteers.
  3. Because most officers refused to take the position.
  4. Because most of the army’s best officers joined the Confederacy.
  1. How did Americans feel about the Civil War before the fighting began?
  1. Both sides thought it would be a short war.
  2. Some Confederate leaders hoped the North would accept secession.
  3. Members of the border states didn’t want to offer troops to fight other slave states.
  4. All of the above.
  1. What event started the fighting between the North and the South?
  1. The Southern states seceded.
  2. Southerners fired on Fort Sumter.
  3. Union forces invaded Virginia.
  4. A Confederate army invaded Maryland.
  1. When the war started why were most Northerners eager to go to war?
  1. To prevent the spread of slavery.
  2. B. To abolish slavery.
  3. To preserve the nation.
  4. To get revenge on the Southerners.
  1. Which battle resulted in the bloodiest ONE day battle in all of American History?
  1. Seven Days’ Battles
  2. The Battle of Antietam
  3. The Battle of New Orleans
  4. First Battle of Bull Run
  1. What strategy did the South have for winning the war?
  1. Attack Washington, D.C. and win a quick victory.
  2. Blockade Union parts.
  3. Capture the Mississippi River in order to split the Union in half.
  4. To fight a defensive war or sit back and wait for the North to get tired.
  1. The greatest loss of life came from ______rather than bullets.
  1. Depression
  2. B. Amputation
  3. Shipwrecks
  4. Disease
  1. What advantage did the South have in the war with the North?
  1. It had the best generals.
  2. It had enough cotton to provide uniforms for its soldiers.
  3. The South had more rifles and cannons than the North.
  4. The South’s capital was too far away to be threatened by Union forces.
  1. Who was President of the Union?
  1. Stephen Douglas
  2. George McClellan
  3. Jefferson Davis
  4. Abraham Lincoln
  1. Who was President of the Confederacy?
  1. Stephen Douglas
  2. George McClellan
  3. Jefferson Davis
  4. Abraham Lincoln
  1. Who was the top general for the Confederacy?
  1. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson
  2. George McClellan
  3. Ulysses S. Grant
  4. Robert E. Lee
  1. Union troops belonged to which region of the country?
  1. North
  2. South
  3. East
  4. West
  1. Confederate troops belonged to which region of the country?
  1. North
  2. South
  3. East
  4. West
  1. Which of the following was a Confederate state?
  1. Virginia
  2. New York
  3. Massachusetts
  4. Pennsylvania
  1. Whose property was turned into Arlington Cemetery?
  1. Abraham Lincoln
  2. Jefferson Davis
  3. Ulysses S. Grant
  4. Robert E. Lee
  1. Which state physically divided into two states over the issue of slavery?
  1. Washington
  2. Virginia
  3. Carolina
  4. Dakota
  1. The turning point of the war was
  1. Bull Run
  2. Shiloh
  3. Antietam
  4. Gettysburg
  1. The Emancipation Proclamation said that
  1. All slaves in the Union and the Confederacy were freed immediately.
  2. Slaves in the states loyal to the Union were freed.
  3. Slaves in the states in southern states were free.
  4. All of the above
  1. Which is true about the Siege of Vicksburg?
  1. It turned Grant against the concept of total war.
  2. The loss of Vicksburg cut the Confederacy in two at the Mississippi River.
  3. Grant’s army captured the city in three hours.
  4. After Vicksburg, Britain decided to aid the South before it was too late.
  1. Why did poor Southern whites complain that the Civil War was a “rich man’s war, but a poor man’s fight”?
  1. Southern planters who owned 20 or more slaves could avoid military service.
  2. The South fought to protect slavery, which only helped those who owned slaves.
  3. Wealthy planters could hire substitutes to avoid going to war.
  4. All of the above.
  1. Lincoln urged the country to “bind up the nation’s wounds” in his
  1. Gettysburg Address.
  2. First Inaugural Address.
  3. Second Inaugural Address.
  4. Emancipation Proclamation.
  1. William Tecumseh Sherman was known for what type of warfare?
  1. Blockade
  2. Hit and Run
  3. Total War
  4. Defensive War
  1. A major Confederate blunder at Gettysburg was
  1. “Stonewall” Jackson’s injury on the Pennsylvania field.
  2. Hostage starvation at Andersonville.
  3. Pickett’s Charge
  4. Southern spy Belle Boyd’s mix-up of information.
  1. Southern slaves aided the Northern war effort by
  1. Escaping to nearby Union armies and volunteering to fight.
  2. Refusing to go with the planters when they fled Union armies.
  3. Destroying Southern crops and farm equipment.
  4. All of the above.

Use the map to answer the following questions

39. The siege of Vicksburg occurred near which body of water?

A. Atlantic Ocean

B. Gulf of Mexico

C. Ohio River

D. Mississippi River

40. Where were most of the major battles fought?

A. on Union territory

B. on Confederate territory

C. at sea

D. in the West

41. How did Gettysburg and Antietam differ from the other battles on the map?

A. They were fought on Union land

B. They were fought on Confederate land

C. They took place in the same state

D. They were the only battles in the border states.

42. Which of the following battles occurred on the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean?

A. Fort Sumter

B. Mobile Bay

C. Chattanooga

D. Vicksburg