MIDTERM EXAM
M4A1: Midterm Exam
Christian Magnin
HIS 335: United States Civil War
Excelsior College
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MIDTERM EXAM
1. Explain the roots of the Civil War in sectional crises and conflict over slavery in the
1850s. Was war inevitable at that point or were other resolutions possible?
The slavery issue which raged debate over a long period of time was conceived to be the
primary reason for the outburst of the Civil War (McPherson & Hogue, 2009). The Civil War
was the conflict between the Confederacy or the Southern states and the Union or the Northern
states. The Southerners were very dependent on the slaves since they were the ones who fueled
their economy and production such as cotton, tobacco, and coffee industries. Without the
utilization of slaves, Southerners believed that they will be left behind compared to the
advancement of the Northerners. Northerners, on the other hand, did not necessarily need slaves
since their industry was not mainly labor intensive compared to the South.
Another root for the outburst of Civil War was due to the insistence of the Southerners
that they are being deprived by the Federal Constitution from their States’ Rights (McPherson &
Hogue, 2009). They view slaves as a means of property and diminishing them would also mean
diminishing their rights to own. Next is the impact of Dred Scott Decision on 1857 when the
court denied his appeal regarding his freedom after his owner died and insisted that he can be
free since he and his family have been living for an extended time in a free state, thus, enabling
him to be a free citizen (HistoryNet, 2017). His appeal has reached the nose of the Supreme
Court and became a national controversy. The court ruled against the favor of Scott and denied
his right to obtain citizenship. This issue has overturned the Missouri Compromise of 1820
which had restricted slavery in certain territories of the United States. (McPherson & Hogue,
2009).
These were only a few of the reasons that believed to be the root cause of raging the Civil
War. For some reason, I can also see contrasting stance from the Northerners. They are against
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slavery and the majority wanted its abolishment, but they are not against black people by seeing
them as not equal. They wanted to free them, but there were states that do not allow black people
to live. These sources have led me to stand that the war can be uncertain at some point by letting
the Southerners acquire slaves for an economical reason. However, what makes the war
inevitable on my point of view is that the conflict was questioning the political and national
power being the United States if they can’t unite at all. Thus, I would consider the war to be
inevitable and a necessity to gain the Federal Union back once again and be the United States of
America by the end of the day. Yes, the war has caused a million lives, but we won’t be shaped
as who we are now and what the United States is today without the turn of events. Surely,
lessons have been learned after all.
2. Compare and contrast the armies and navies of the Union and Confederacy at the
start of the war through 1862. What types of men volunteered to fight and why?
How were the armies organized and mobilized? What were the military advantages
and disadvantages of each side?
When it comes to the Navy forces between the Union and the Confederacy, the Union has
greater resources compared to the latter. The Union navy was tasked to get a hold on the
Southern coasts to block the outside transactions of the Southerners and disable them to make
trades with their major products such as cotton (Civil War Trust, 2017). Lincoln, the Union
president that time, was planning to block the coastal passages by utilizing his navy and its
resources. The Union navy has an estimated of 40 usable ships while the Confederacy has a
handful of shipyards yet have no navy to be utilized at all (Civil War Trust, 2017). However, the
Southerners needed to prevent the Union from blocking their port cities. This shortcoming has
led the Confederate Secretary of Navy to conduct an offensive attack on the Union merchant
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shipping (Civil War Trust, 2017). The Southerners having no navy from the start implied that
their navies in the proceedings of the war have not engaged in a formal training compared to the
Northerners.
The Union maintained control over the regular army while the Confederates created their
own regular force. Some of the regular armies have resigned their post in the North to join the
army and render their service in the South (McPherson & Hogue, 2009). Both the Union and the
Confederacy sought volunteered armies. Aside from the armies that the Union is under
command, Lincoln has sought over 75,000 volunteers after Fort Sumter while the Confederacy
authorized an estimated of 100,000 volunteer force (Raymer, 2014). However, in April 1862, the
Confederacy enacted first conscription law constituting that all 17-50 years old able-bodied
white men are to serve the Confederacy except to those who are owners or overseers of 20 or
more slaves (Raymer, 2014). On the other hand, the Union had its first draft in March 1863
obliging all men ages 20-45 years old except those who will pay another man to represent them
or those who will pay the government for $300 (Raymer, 2014). The two had different strategies
on how to acquire their troops.
3. Write a comprehensive and detailed essay that analyzes and assesses the
Generalship of Robert E. Lee and George B. McClellan during the period of the war
from August 1862 through November of 1862.
George McClellan was a U.S. Army officer who served as a major general during the
American Civil War, mainly in the Army of the Potomac and as general-in-chief of the Union
Army (History, 2017). His army had won small series of war and he was labeled as “The young
Napoleon” (History, 2017). McClellan was committed to the preservation of the Federal Union
yet actually in the opposition side to abolish the slavery (History, 2017). Although he was
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admired by his men, McClellan lacked the ability to fully attack and conquer the Confederate
armies even with immense advantages over the latter (McPherson & Hogue, 2009). His
shortcomings to wisely organize and handle a massive amount of troops had put him in an
unfavorable view with the Union president, Abraham Lincoln. His Peninsula Campaign had
unraveled after Seven Days Battles and failed to fully pursue the Confederate’s army under the
command of General Robert Lee at the Battle of Antietam (History, 2017). His indecisiveness
and overly cautious tactics made him be removed from the Army of the Potomac (McPherson &
Hogue, 2009).
Robert E. Lee was otherwise more cunning and aggressive than McClellan (McPherson
& Hogue, 2009). Robert Lee was originally a military officer in the U.S. Army. Yet, he decided
to resign his commission and offered his services to the Confederacy (McPherson & Hogue,
2009). Both graduated from West Point. Both were also second in their respective class rankings
(History, 2017). When it comes to military and tactical strategies, Robert Lee was way
experienced than of McClellan (McPherson & Hogue, 2009). During the Peninsular Campaign
concluding with the Battles of Seven Days, Lee successfully repulsed General McClellan even if
the latter has immense tactical advantages over the Confederate army (McPherson & Hogue,
2009). Lee’s military admired his leadership as he was perceived as a loyal, reliable, and a
commendable General as they put all their confidence under his command (Wasta & Lott, n.d.).
He was declared as “The very best soldiers that I ever saw in the field” by General Scott
(History, 2017).
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Reference
Civil War Trust. (2017). The Navies of the Civil War. Retrieved from
https://www.civilwar.org/learn/articles/navies-civil-war.
HistoryNet. (2017). Facts about the Dred Scott Decision, one of the causes of the American Civil
War. Retrieved from http://www.historynet.com/dred-scott.
McPherson, J. M., & Hogue, J. K. (2009). Ordeal by fire: The Civil War and Reconstruction.
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Raymer, G. O. (2014). The Civil War: Goals, strategies, and consequences. Retrieved from
http://users.humboldt.edu/ogayle/hist110/unit4/CivilWar.html.
Wasta, S., & Lott, C. (n.d.). Eli Landers: Letters of a Confederate soldier. Retrieved from
https://mycourses.excelsior.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-3894315-dt-content-rid39539462_1/courses/BLA.HIS335.Online.201710.201712.s30049272/module_03/HIS335
_Eli%20Pinson%20Landers.pdf.
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