Mississippi Studies
Secession and War
Study Guide
Name__________________________________
1. What law set up the process to create territories and states on the western frontier of the U.S.?
2. Under the Northwest Ordinance, what was the physical border between free and slave states?
3. What doubled the size of the U.S. in 1803?
4. What issue developed in regard to the states that would be made from the Louisiana Purchase?
5. What does abolish mean?
6. Who were the people who wanted to abolish slavery?
7. Where did most abolitionists live?
8. What was an example of an early abolitionist movement in Mississippi?
9. What state applied for statehood as a slave state in 1819?
10. Geographically, what was the problem with Missouri being a slave state?
11. What problem was Missouri going to create in the U.S. Congress, whether it was free or slave?
12. How many free and slave states were there in the U.S. at that time (1819)?
13. What settled the dispute over Missouri?
14. Under the Missouri Compromise, what two new states entered the Union and how did they enter?
15. Under the Missouri Compromise, what became the new boundary to separate free and slave states?
16. Why did the U.S. go to war with Mexico in 1846?
17. What did the U.S. gain from Mexico in the Mexican-American War?
18. What again became an issue with the new territories the U.S. gained?
19. What state created problems after the Mexican-American War (in 1850)?
20. What type of state did California want to be?
21. What settled the dispute over California?
22. Under the Compromise of 1850, how did California enter the Union?
23. Under the Compromise of 1850, what was used to let the new territories vote on the issue of
slavery?
24. Under the Compromise of 1850, what law was passed to give the south more power in hunting down
runaway slaves?
25. What did most people believe about the Compromise of 1850?
26. In 1854, where did war break out over the issue of slavery?
27. What Supreme Court case dealt with the issue of slavery in 1857?
28. Why did Dred Scott sue his owner?
29. What did the U.S. Supreme Court decide in the Dred Scott decision?
30. What new political party developed partly from the Dred Scott decision?
31. What did John Brown do in 1859?
32. Why did John Brown capture the arsenal?
33. What happened to John Brown?
34. How did the south view John Brown’s actions?
35. What is secession?
36. What were Mississippians in favor of secession known as?
37. What were Mississippians in favor of remaining in the Union known as?
38. During the early 1850’s, were most Mississippians fire-eaters or Unionists?
39. Who was the candidate of the Republican Party in 1860 and what was he in favor of?
40. Who was the candidate of the Northern Democrats in 1860 and what was he in favor of?
41. Who was the candidate of the Southern Democrats in 1860 and what was he in favor of?
42. Who was the candidate of the Constitutional Union Party in 1860 and what was he in favor of?
43. Who won the presidential election of 1860?
44. Which southern state was the first to secede from the Union?
45. Which southern state was the second to secede from the Union?
46. How many southern states seceded from the Union before Lincoln was inaugurated?
47. What new country did the southern states form?
48. Who was the president of the Confederate States of America?
49. When (mm/dd/yr) and where did the Civil War begin?
50. What did people believe about the Civil War when it began?
51. What did people do when the First Battle of Bull Run was fought?
52. What were four advantages of the north in the war?
53. What were two advantages of the south in the war?
54. What was the north’s strategy for the war?
55. What was the south’s strategy for the war?
56. Why were Corinth, Meridian and Jackson all captured by the northern army?
57. The most important Civil War battle that took place in Mississippi was over what town?
58. Why was Vicksburg such a problem for the Union navy?
59. Why did Vicksburg’s location make it extremely difficult to attack?
60. What happened when the Union army tried to directly attack Vicksburg?
61. How did the Union try to bypass Vicksburg?
62. How did Ulysses S. Grant finally decide to take Vicksburg?
63. What is a siege?
64. How long did the siege of Vicksburg last?
65. Who was the leader of the Mississippi troops in Vicksburg?
66. When did Pemberton surrender Vicksburg (mm/dd/yr)?
67. What effect did the surrender of Vicksburg have on the city’s residents after the war?
68. What was the U.S.S. Cairo?
69. What was an ironclad?
70. What was the Cairo used to do?
71. When was the Cairo recovered?
72. Who was put in charge of the Union troops after the siege of Vicksburg?
73. What did Grant use to win the Civil War?
74. When (mm/dd/yr) and where did the Civil War end?
75. What effect did the Union blockade have on Mississippi’s government during the war?
76. What did the people of Mississippi face because of the Union blockade?
77. What were three things slaves did during the Civil War?
78. What was issued by Abraham Lincoln in 1862?
79. The Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves where?
80. Why didn’t the Emancipation Proclamation free all of the slaves in the U.S.?
81. What was added to the U.S. Constitution to abolish slavery in the U.S.?