Name: ____________________________
The War Between the States Begins Part 1
Virginia went to war in 1861. This war was the most terrible war ever fought in the United
States, because Americans fought each other.
Men from the Southern States fought men from the Northern States, so the war is called the War
Between the States. It lasted for four years, from
1861-1865.
The Northern and the Southern people did not live in the same way. In the North, there were towns and cities and many factories. The Northern people had small farms. In Virginia and in all parts of the South, there were large plantations and small farms. There were not many cities and towns, and most of the people lived in the country.
For many years, the Northern and Southern people had quarreled with each other.
They did not think alike about the kind of laws that the United States Congress made for the country. Men in the North wanted laws that would help their factories grow. Men in the
South wanted laws that would help them on their plantations.
Northern and Southern people did not think alike about slavery. The Northern people did not need much help to work their small farms. The planters in Virginia and in the South needed many men to work for them. They had African American slaves to do their work.
By this time, many people knew that slavery was wrong. But the planters did not know how they could free their slaves and keep their plantations going. Some people in the North said that the Southern people had to free their slaves no matter what happened to their plantations. The South said that the North had no right to tell them what to do. The South believed that each state had the right to decide how the people were to live in that state. So, the North and the South quarreled about the rights that each state had.
People in the South grew more and more angry with the North. The people of all the states had certain rights under the United States Constitution, but the people in the South believed that the rights were being taken from them. South Carolina led some other states in deciding that the only way to keep their rights was to secede (leave) from the United States and start a new nation. This new nation was called the Confederate States of America.
Virginia’s History and Geography by Raymond C Dingledine, Jr. and Lena Barksdale and Marion Belt Nesbitt

Directions: Choose the best answer.
1.
Who fought who in the war that began in
1861?
A.
British against Americans
6.
Using context clues, what do you think the word “quarrel” means?
A.
agree
B.
Americans against the French and
Indians
C.
Americans against Americans
D.
Germans against the Americans
B.
argue
C.
pass laws
D.
make compromises
7.
What were the two things that the
North and the South quarreled about?
A.
Slavery and states having rights
2.
How long did the War Between the States last?
A.
8 years
B.
10 years
C.
3 years
D.
4 years
3.
What is NOT true about the Northern states?
A.
Lots of cities
B.
Large plantations
B.
Slavery and plantation owners voting
C.
Women and slaves voting
D.
Farms and factories working together
8.
What does the word secede mean?
A.
begin
B.
leave
C.
transition
D.
make laws C.
Lots of factories
D.
Fewer slaves
9.
What state led the other southern states in seceding from the US and start 4.
What is NOT true about the Southern states?
A.
Large plantations
B.
Slave labor needed to work farms
C.
Slave labor needed to work factories their own country?
A.
Virginia
B.
North Carolina
C.
South Carolina
D.
Georgia D.
Not as many cities and towns
5.
Why did the South want slavery to continue?
10.
What was the name of the new country that the Southern States started after
A.
Because they needed them to keep their plantations going
B.
Because they needed them to keep their factories going
C.
Because they liked feeling dominant and controlling over other people
D.
Because they wanted the government leaving the “Union,” or the USA?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Confederate States of the Union
United States of the South
Confederate States of the South
Confederate States of America to pass laws that would help small farms
Virginia’s History and Geography by Raymond C Dingledine, Jr. and Lena Barksdale and Marion Belt Nesbitt

Virginia’s History and Geography by Raymond C Dingledine, Jr. and Lena Barksdale and Marion Belt Nesbitt