8th Grade Social Studies Final (Shepard and Stewart)
1. Before the Civil War began the North and the Southhad several cultural, geographic,
demographic, and economic differences. The most significant difference between the North
and South was________________
a. the fact that the North had more land
b. the fact that the Southern economy was built on slavery
c. the fact that the opening of the West meant more wealth for the nation
2. The South left the Union and fought the Civil Warin order to________________
a. prevent the British from retaking Canada
b. continue the growth and spread of democracy
c. preserve and maintain the institution of slavery
3. The Wilmot Proviso was a _____________________
a. an admendment which proposed that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever
exist in any territory the United States might acquire as a result of the war with Mexico.”
b. an amendment that stated “All Men are entitled to both Life, Liberty, and Prosperity in all
Southern States.”
c. secret military pact between Southern states and England. The pact would take effect if the
North decided to secede from the Union.
4. When California requested admission to the United States as a free state in 1850, the
balance of power in the Senate was once again threatened.The balance currently stood at 15
free, and 15 slave states. Many feared that if thenation could not come to a compromise on
the California issue, the country would break apart. This compromise was known as
the______________
a. Missouri Compromise
b. Compromise of 1850
c. The California Compromise
5. Two key conditions of the Compromise of 1850 were…
a. Mexico would join the U.S. and Canada would become part of Britain
b. All slaves in the Northern states would be freed and no more slaves could be imported
c. California would enter as a free state and put into place a strict Fugitive Slave Law
6. Popular sovereignty refers to__________
a. the voting process that allowed the people living in individual territories to decide whether or
not slavery will be permitted in there.
b. the process of deciding how many slaves would be allowed in free states
c. the polticial party that wanted to see slavery expanded in all new states
7. Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, passed as part of theCompromiseof 1850. It required all
citizens to help catch runaway slaves. Worse, _________________________
a. attackers destroyed homes in Kansas and the Free Soil newspapers.
b. the law threatened the safety of all blacks, slave and free, and forced many Northerners to
become more defiant in their support of fugitives.
c. the states of New Mexico and Utah were created as “holding pins” for escaped slaves
8. Those who oppossed slavery were known as________________ because they wanted to
see slavery aboloished.
a. “Long Riders”
b. Democrats
c. abolitionist
9. In responce to slavery Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote the antislavery novel_____________
a. To Have and To Have Not
b. Uncle Tom’s Cabin
c. Of Mice and Men
10. In 1854 the Kansas Nebraska Act stated that the Nebraska Territory be divided into two
territories, Kansas and Nebraska. The settlers living in each territory would decide the issue
of slavery by popular sovereignty. Southern leaders especially supported the Kansas-Nebraska
Act, sure that slave owners in neighboring states would move across the border to Kansas and
vote for Kansas to become a slave state.
Ture
False
11. After escaping from slavery this abolisnist went on to found the antislavery newspaper,
The North Star, worked on the Underground RailroadwithHarriet Tubman, and later
served as an advisor to President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War.
a. John Brown
b. Frederick Douglass
c. Dale Carter
12. As a result of the controversial Kansas NebraskaAct, which opened up the territories of
Kansas and Nebraska to slavery through popular sovereignty (where the people vote whether
or not to allow slavery), Kansas now became a battleground over the slavery question.
True
False
13. By the mid 1850’s, more than 200 people had beenkilled over the issue of slavery
inKansas. As a result, newspapers began calling the territory _________________
a. D-Day
b. Wounded Knee
c. Bleeding Kanas
14. Because of the Dred Scott Decision of 1857____________________
a. Freed Blacks who escaped slavery could go into the South without fear of capture
b. States can not forbid slave owners from bringing slaves into free states
c. All children born to an enslaved mother would be set free because they were not “purchased”
15. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates were a series of sevendebatesbetween the Democratic
senator Stephen A. Douglas and Republican challenger Abraham Lincoln during the 1858
Illinois senatorial campaign, largely concerning the issue of slavery extension into the
territories.
True
False
16. During the Lincoln-Douglas Debates Lincoln argued that the nation would eventually be
either all slave states or all free states, and nothing in between. Meanwhile, Douglas attempts
to tie Lincoln to radical abolitionists who would undermine national political stability to
extend equality to African Americans.
True
False
17. In 1859 this abolitionist would go on to attack the federal arsenal that contained 100,000
guns and rifles at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. He planned to capture the guns, free slaves to join
him, and start a war. This sent a shockwave of terrorthroughout the South.
a. John Brown
b. Frederick Douglass
c. Clark Savage Jr.
18. Fearing that he would seek to abolish slavery, seven southern states left the Union after
the election of _____________ in 1860.
a. Lamont Cranston
b. Abraham Lincoln
c. Kit Walker
19. Confederate officials already were taking control of federal mints, arsenals, and forts.
Fighting finally broke out at _____________. Which is known as the first battle of the
Civil War.
a. Fort Washington
b. Fort Bragg
c. Fort Sumter
20. After Lincoln called for troops, all the states had to choose a side. Four more slave states
joined the Confederacy. Four _____________—slave states that bordered the
North—decided to stay
in the Union.
a. border States
b. northern States
c. frontier States
21. _______ was the most significant border state because Washington, D.C., lay within the
state. If _______ fell or seceded, the North’s governmentwould have been taken.
a. Virginia
b. Maryland
c. Kansas
22. The states that seceded from the Union (the United States) formed a new government
called the ___________________
a. Confederate States of America
b. The USSR
c. The United Southern States of America
23. The main goal of the North at the outset was to_____________________________.
Ending slavery was not a major Northern goal at first, but this changed as the war continued.
a. bring the Southern states back into the Union.
b. destroy the rebellion and imprison all those who study against the United States
c. let the Southern states go and form their own government.
24. For the South, the primary aim of the war was to _____________. Independence would
allow Southerners to preserve their traditional way of life—a way of life that included slavery.
a. rejoin Great Britain and become a part of England again.
b. win recognition as an independent nation.
c. Invade Mexico and enslave all the peoples of South America.
25. The Civil War was more than a war between the states. It often pitted ____________,
parents against their children, and neighbor against neighbor.
a. Southerners against Native Americans
b. brother against brother .
c. the English against the French
27. When the war began, each side expected an ____________.
a. long bloody war
b. global conflict that would involve many nations
c. early victory
28. Important Confederate generals included: Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and Robert E.
Lee
True
False
29. Important Union generals included: Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman
True
False
30. While the North had superior wealth, man power, and equipment, it is commonly
understood that overall the South had far superiorgenerals.
True
False
31. During the War President Lincoln realized that one way to weaken the South was to free
the slaves. Lincoln presented the ________________________.This would free many
slaves on which the South’s economy relied.
a. “I Have A Dream Speech”
b. Gettysburg Address
c. Emancipation Proclamation
32. In July 1862 Congress decided to allow African Americans to join the army as laborers.
This decision included both free African Americans and ____________, or escaped slaves.
a. contrabands
b. migrants
c. immigrants
33. Within a year several African American units had formed. The most famous unit was the
________________ Infantry.
a. 13th Colored Regiment of Tennessee
b. 54th Massachusetts Infantry
c. The Tuskegee Airmen
34. For the soldier, both camp life and combat offered dangers. Poor camp conditions,
including lack of medicine and painkillers, led toillness. This alone killed more men than
battle did.
True
False
35. Many women also provided medical care for the soldiers. For example, volunteer Clara
Barton collected medicine and supplies for the Union Troops. Her work led to the forming of
the organization that would become the _________________.
a. The American Red Cross
b. The Salvation Army
c. The United Way
36. Hoping a Confederate win on Union soil would break the Union’s spirit, Lee headed into
Union territory. The Battle of _________________,whichstarted July 1, 1863, was the
consequence.
a. Vicksburg
b. Gettysburg
c. Fredericksburg
37. How long did the Battle of Gettysburg last?
a. 2 Day
b. 1 Week
c. 3 Days
38. On the second day, Confederate troops tried to take the hill called Little Round Top but
failed. On the third day, Lee ordered GeneralGeorgePickett to lead a charge on Cemetery
Ridge. ___________________was a disaster. Over half the Confederates were killed,
and Lee retreated.
a. The Alamo
b. The Charge of the Light Brigade
c. Pickett’s Charge
39. The Battle of ___________________ was the turningpoint in the war.
a. Vicksburg
b. Gettysburg
c. Fredericksburg
40. President Lincoln helped dedicate a new cemetery at Gettysburg. On November 19, 1863,
he delivered the __________________.
a. “I Have A Dream Speech”
b. Gettysburg Address
c. Emancipation Proclamation
41. The Union General William Tecumseh Sherman captured Atlanta, Georgia. But he went
f urther, he ordered his troops to cut a path of destruction through Georgia, practicing what
he called ________________ all the way to the ocean.
a. “slash and burn”
b. “total war”
c. “fight to the death”
42. On April 9, 1865, at ________________, Lee officially surrendered to Grant. The
long, bloody war was over, but the question of how the United States could be united again
remained.
a. Appomattox Courthouse
b. the United States Capitol Building
c. the WhiteHouse
43. In 1865 the __________________ to the Constitution officially outlawed slavery in
the Nation.
a. 2nd Amendment
b. 24th Amendment
c. 13th
44. On the evening of April 14,1865 (just five daysafter the Union victory at the Battle of
Appomattox Courthouse) Abraham Lincoln and his wife attended a play at Ford’s Theater in
Washington D.C. While watching the play President Lincoln was shot in the back of the head
by a Confederate sympathizer. A few hours later President Lincoln died due to the bullet
wound.
True
False
45. The period immediately after the Civil War was known as the Reconstruction Era.
True
False