History Practicum Midterm Study Guide
The midterm exam will be held in your precept section the
week of October 15/16. You will have fifty (50) minutes to
answer one (1) of two (2) questions with a well-supported
essay answer. Please provide your own blue book for this
exam. You are allowed to bring in one 8 ½ x 11 “cheat
sheet” for use during the exam. You’ll be asked to turn in
the cheat sheet with your blue book at the conclusion of
the exam.
Important Terms
Here are some important terms that you should know in
preparing for the midterm examination. Be sure to
understand the significance of these terms, as well as just
knowing what they are.
Erie Canal
“Bleeding Kansas”
Robert E. Lee
Internal Slave Trade
Election of 1860
Army of Northern Vi
Compromise of 1850
Secession Commissioners
Invasion of Marylan
Stephen Douglas
“Offensive-Defensive”
“Contraband of War
Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852)
“Anaconda Plan”
Emancipation Procla
Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
Army of the Potomac
Fredericksburg (186
Charles Sumner
George McClellan
George Meade
John Brown
Peninsular Campaign (1862)
Gettysburg & Vicksb
Dred Scott Case (1857)
Shiloh (1862)
Essay Question Themes
Although these themes don’t provide the exact text of the
question, every one of the essay questions you’ll be asked
to answer will address one or more of these themes. Try
to match some of them with the terms above—it’s a good
way to link broad themes with specific examples that are
integral to a successful exam.
1. Consider the growing divide between the North and the
South in the 1850s leading up to the election of 1860.
What were the major differences? What caused conflict
between the two sections?
2. Think about the march toward Civil War in the late
1850s and early 1860s. What were the major reasons
behind secession? Why was the election of Lincoln the
catalyst? How did the secession movement spread?
3. All wars are political, but this one seemed intensely
political. How did political objectives influence military
strategies in the first few years of the Civil War? How did
the results of battles influence the decisions of political
leaders from 1861 to 1863?
4. Think about turning points in the period we’ve covered.
Was there a “point of no return” for the sectional crisis of
the 1850s? Was there a certain point in time when war
between the North and the South became inevitable?
What were some turning points of the war from 1861 to
1863?
5. Consider the length and severity of the Civil War. How
did the Confederacy, in the face of such a material
disadvantage, perform so well in the first two years of the
war? Why was the Union unable to capitalize on its many
advantages? Was this a limited war with political
U.S. Grant
objectives or a total war between two fundamentally
different societies?