IB History of the Americas
Unit Two Test– 1/8 (A) & 1/9 (B)
Name:
United States Civil War: Essay Questions
Objective 2.1: Examine the nature of the Civil War
Objective 2.2: Evaluate the significance of the cotton economy and slavery and how this caused the
North and South to grow apart
a) “The dominant response of blacks to slavery was a complex one: a combination of adaptation
and resistance.” To what extent do you agree with this view?
b) Compare and contrast the economic development of the North and the South from 1840-1860
Objective 2.3: Explore the origins of the Civil War by looking at the differences between the North and
South
a) Evaluate the role westward expansion played in the deepening divisions in the USA during the
1840s and 1850s.
b) Discuss how the Nullification Crisis deepened sectional differences in the USA.
Objective 2.4: Examine the abolitionist debate and explain why it became such a powerful force
a) How and why did the antislavery movement in the U.S. change during the course of the
nineteenth century?
b) “The Compromise of 1850 solved little.” To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Objective 2.5: Consider the factors that led to secession and the outbreak of war
a) In what way, and to what extent, did the events of the 1850s contribute to the increase of
sectionalism and the outbreak of the United States Civil War?
b) Why was it possible for the North and South in the United States to reach a compromise on the
issue of slavery expansion in 1820 and 1850 but not in 1860?
Objective 2.6: Explain the course of the war and consider the effectiveness of the leadership of both
sides
a) Assess the relative strengths of the North and the South at the beginning of the United States
Civil War in 1861.
b) To what extent were Northern advantages in manpower and industrial output the deciding
factors in the Civil War?
Objective 2.7: Look at the key battles and explore why the war lasted so long
a) Why, in spite of the advantages of the North over the South, did the Confederacy survive for so
long and the Civil War last so long?
b) In what ways and with what effects was General Grant’s military strategy successful?
Objective 2.8: Examine the process and impact of reconstruction
a) “The attempts in the Reconstruction period 1865-77 to solve the problems caused by the Civil
War failed African-Americans.” To what extent do you agree with this statement?
b) To what extent was Reconstruction a political and economic success?
Objective 2.9: Look at the position of African Americans before and after Reconstruction
a) Assess the contributions African Americans made to the Union’s war effort.
b) Explain the “legal” methods white Southerners used to overturn the gains ex-slaves had made
after the Civil War.
*Three of the above long-essay questions will be on the Unit Test; you will choose one of the three to
write on