Civil War Introduction — Answer Key
Part A: Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer for each question.
1. Frederick Douglass said, 'Once let the Black man get upon his person the brass letters U.S....' What was he urging?
A) Black men to enlist as Union soldiers
B) Black men to move to Canada
C) Black men to start their own country
D) Black men to remain on plantations
Douglass believed military service in Union uniforms would prove citizenship for African Americans.
2. Which best describes the Union's overall strategy?
A) Invade Canada and add new states
B) Blockade ports, split the South, and capture Richmond
C) Burn every northern factory
D) Make peace immediately
The Union plan combined a naval blockade, splitting the Confederacy, and taking its capital.
3. Which best describes the Confederacy's overall strategy?
A) Invade California to gain gold
B) Free all enslaved people quickly
C) Defend home territory and gain foreign help
D) Build factories faster than the North
The Confederacy aimed to defend its land and hoped foreign nations would recognize and aid it.
4. Which is a long-term effect of the Civil War still seen today?
A) Slavery returned in some states
B) The country split into two nations
C) Citizens lost the right to vote
D) The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments protect rights
The Reconstruction Amendments ended slavery and expanded citizenship and voting rights for many.
Part B: Fill in the Blank
Write the correct answer on each line.
1. The Union strategy named after a giant snake was the Anaconda Plan.
The Anaconda Plan slowly squeezed the South by blockading its coast and rivers.
2. The Confederate capital that the Union wanted to capture was Richmond, Virginia.
Capturing Richmond was a key Union goal because it was the Confederate seat of government.
3. The amendment that ended slavery in the United States is the 13th Amendment.
The 13th Amendment, ratified in 1865, permanently abolished slavery throughout the United States.
4. African American men gained the right to vote with the 15th Amendment.
The 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, said voting rights could not be denied based on race.
5. The period of rebuilding the South after the war was called Reconstruction.
Reconstruction tried to rebuild the South, protect freed people, and reunite the nation.