The sectional crisis and the Civil War
Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Two accounts of why the South seceded, in brief
Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: After the war, many Southern writers argued that the Confederacy had fought for states' rights and not for slavery. Historians today generally point to the secession conventions' own declarations of 1860 and 1861, which name slavery as the cause. Source card "Mississippi's declaration, 1861, in our words". Who made it: the Mississippi secession convention. When: January 1861. Where: Mississippi. For whom: the other states and the public. Why: to explain and justify leaving the Union. Summary in our words, not a quotation: When Mississippi left the Union in January 1861, its convention issued a declaration of its reasons. It begins by saying that the state's position was thoroughly tied to slavery, which it called a great material interest of the world. It then lists what it saw as attacks on slavery: the ban on slavery in the northern Louisiana Territory in 1820, laws in free states that blocked the Fugitive Slave Law, and the refusal to admit new slave states. It was written by the convention of Mississippi's leaders. Source card "South Carolina on the return of people who escaped slavery". Who made it: the South Carolina secession convention. When: December 24, 1860. Where: Charleston, South Carolina. For whom: the other states and the public. Why: to explain and justify leaving the Union. Excerpt (Declaration of the Immediate Causes (South Carolina, 1860); the 1860 Charleston pamphlet, pp. 7-8): "The Constitution of the United States, in its 4th Article, provides as follows: "No person held to service or labor [slavery] in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall … be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up, on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due." … Thus the constitutional compact has been deliberately broken and disregarded by the non-slaveholding States, and the consequence follows that South Carolina is released from her obligation."
Two readers disagree about whether slavery or states' rights drove secession. Pia adds Mississippi and South Carolina. What do the two add?
- Two states used constitutional language, which corroborates the states' rights view
- Two states cannot settle a question about eleven states, so the evidence is unusable
- Two states tied leaving to slavery in their own words, which corroborates the view
- Two states agreeing suggests copying, so the declarations add nothing independent
Lincoln's order of freedom
Who made it: President Abraham Lincoln, as Commander-in-Chief. When: January 1, 1863. Where: Washington. For whom: the nation, the armed forces and the states in rebellion. Why: to free, as a war measure, people held as slaves in the states in rebellion. Excerpt (Emancipation Proclamation; the Statutes at Large, vol. 12, pp. 1268-1269): "… all persons held as slaves within said designated states and parts of states are, and henceforward shall be, free; and that the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons." Source card "The Emancipation Proclamation: its limits". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Lincoln issued the proclamation as a military measure. It covered the states in rebellion, and slavery in the loyal border states of Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri was left as it was. Parts of the Confederacy that Union forces already held were also left out. The promised freedom depended on a Union victory. The proclamation did not end slavery across the nation, but from January 1, 1863, each Union advance widened the area of freedom. It also announced that Black men would be accepted into the Union Army and Navy. Source card "Lincoln on Black men in the armed service". Who made it: President Abraham Lincoln, as Commander-in-Chief. When: January 1, 1863. Where: Washington. For whom: the nation, the armed forces and the states in rebellion. Why: to free, as a war measure, people held as slaves in the states in rebellion. Excerpt (Emancipation Proclamation; the Statutes at Large, vol. 12, pp. 1268-1269): "And I further declare and make known that such persons, of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service."
One account calls the Proclamation a military tactic; another calls it a moral act. Bo checks three cards. Which conclusion fits?
- It was a war measure and limited by that, yet it widened freedom and opened the army to Black men
- The cards cannot show Lincoln's private motives, so neither account has any support from them
- It was a moral act, since it ended slavery everywhere and was enforced at once in 1863
- It was a tactic and nothing more, since it left border states alone and freed no one at once
Use this
Source card "The Missouri Compromise, 1820, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Missouri asked to join the Union as a state that allowed slavery. In 1820 Congress let Missouri in as a slave state and, at the same time, Maine as a free state, so the number of free states and slave states stayed equal. A slave state is one where the law allowed slavery, and a free state is one where the law banned it. Congress also banned slavery in the rest of the Louisiana Territory north of 36 degrees 30 minutes north latitude. Who gained: people in Missouri who supported slavery, whose state could keep it, and people who wanted slavery kept out of the northern Louisiana Territory. Who lost: enslaved people in Missouri, who stayed enslaved. Source card "The Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: In 1854 Congress created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. The act repealed the Missouri Compromise ban on slavery north of 36 degrees 30 minutes. It said the settlers of each territory would decide by popular sovereignty whether slavery would be legal there. Settlers who supported slavery and settlers who opposed it rushed to Kansas, and the conflict turned violent. Opponents of the act helped found the Republican Party. Who gained: people who wanted slavery to spread into the territories. Who lost: people who wanted slavery kept out, because the ban of 1820 was repealed. Source card "The ban of 1820: repeal and ruling". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: The Missouri Compromise banned slavery north of 36 degrees 30 minutes in the rest of the Louisiana Territory. Congress repealed the ban with the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. In 1857 the Supreme Court ruled in the Dred Scott case that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional.
Milo traces the ban of 1820 across the cards and strip. Which sequence is right?
- Congress set the ban in 1820, the Court ruled it void in 1850, and Congress repealed it in 1854
- The Court ruled the ban void in 1857 first, and Congress repealed it in 1854 to match that
- Congress set the ban in 1820, and the Compromise of 1850 repealed it for Utah and New Mexico
- Congress set the ban in 1820, repealed it in 1854, and the Court ruled it unconstitutional in 1857
Frederick Douglass on the Fourth of July
Who made it: Frederick Douglass, a formerly enslaved abolitionist and speaker. When: July 5, 1852. Where: Rochester, New York. For whom: an audience in Corinthian Hall, Rochester. Why: to tell his audience what the Fourth of July meant to an enslaved person. Excerpt (Oration, Rochester, July 5, 1852; the 1852 Rochester pamphlet, p. 20): "What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless …" Source card "Frederick Douglass calls Black men to enlist". Who made it: Frederick Douglass, an abolitionist and editor. When: 1863. Where: Rochester, New York. For whom: free Black men in the North. Why: to urge Black men to join the Union army. Excerpt ("Men of Color, To Arms!" as printed in Life and Times; Life and Times, 1881, pp. 414-415): "Liberty won by white men would lose half its luster. 'Who would be free themselves must strike the blow.' … I am authorized to assure you that you will receive the same wages, the same rations, the same equipments, the same protection, the same treatment, and the same bounty, secured to white soldiers." Source card "Lincoln's order of freedom". Who made it: President Abraham Lincoln, as Commander-in-Chief. When: January 1, 1863. Where: Washington. For whom: the nation, the armed forces and the states in rebellion. Why: to free, as a war measure, people held as slaves in the states in rebellion. Excerpt (Emancipation Proclamation; the Statutes at Large, vol. 12, pp. 1268-1269): "… all persons held as slaves within said designated states and parts of states are, and henceforward shall be, free; and that the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons."
Zee reads Douglass in 1852, Douglass in 1863, and the Proclamation. Which statement uses all three well?
- In 1852 he condemned the holiday for the enslaved; in 1863 he recruited Black soldiers
- In 1852 he predicted the Proclamation, and in 1863 he recruited soldiers to carry it out
- In 1863 he recruited because the Proclamation freed the enslaved people in the Union and the Confederacy
- In 1852 and 1863 he held the same view, so the Proclamation changed little in his speeches
Black soldiers in the Union forces, in brief
Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: About 179,000 Black men served in the Union Army and about 19,000 in the Navy; the National Archives says almost 200,000 Black soldiers and sailors in all. The War Department set up the United States Colored Troops on May 22, 1863. Black soldiers were first paid 10 dollars a month with 3 dollars taken out for clothing, a net of 7 dollars, while white soldiers received 13 dollars with no clothing deduction. In June 1864 Congress granted equal pay and made it retroactive. Nearly 40,000 Black soldiers lost their lives in the war, about 30,000 of them from infection or disease. Source card "Frederick Douglass calls Black men to enlist". Who made it: Frederick Douglass, an abolitionist and editor. When: 1863. Where: Rochester, New York. For whom: free Black men in the North. Why: to urge Black men to join the Union army. Excerpt ("Men of Color, To Arms!" as printed in Life and Times; Life and Times, 1881, pp. 414-415): "Liberty won by white men would lose half its luster. 'Who would be free themselves must strike the blow.' … I am authorized to assure you that you will receive the same wages, the same rations, the same equipments, the same protection, the same treatment, and the same bounty, secured to white soldiers." Source card "Lincoln on Black men in the armed service". Who made it: President Abraham Lincoln, as Commander-in-Chief. When: January 1, 1863. Where: Washington. For whom: the nation, the armed forces and the states in rebellion. Why: to free, as a war measure, people held as slaves in the states in rebellion. Excerpt (Emancipation Proclamation; the Statutes at Large, vol. 12, pp. 1268-1269): "And I further declare and make known that such persons, of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service."
Kira sets Lincoln's army clause, Douglass's promise, and the pay card side by side. What is the best account of the promise?
- The order opened the army and Douglass promised equal pay, but early pay was lower
- Douglass promised pay that the order forbade, so he was not speaking for the government
- The order promised equal pay, which Douglass repeated and the army paid from the start
- The order opened the army and Douglass's promise was kept, since the service was equal
Use this
Source card "Secession, 1860 and 1861, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: South Carolina left the Union on December 20, 1860. Six more states followed: Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. In February 1861 delegates met in Montgomery, Alabama, to form the Confederate States of America, and Lincoln took office on March 4, 1861. After the attack on Fort Sumter, Lincoln called on April 15 for 75,000 volunteers. Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee then left the Union. In all, eleven states joined the Confederacy. Source card "Five dated turning points, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: April 12, 1861: Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter in South Carolina, and the war formally begins. September 17, 1862: the Battle of Antietam, the day of the war with the most casualties, turns back General Lee's first attempt to invade the North. September 22, 1862: Lincoln issues the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. January 1, 1863: the Emancipation Proclamation takes effect. July 1 to 3, 1863: General Lee's invasion of the North fails at Gettysburg, and his army begins to retreat on July 4. April 9, 1865: General Lee signs the surrender of his army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.
Luz weighs why eleven states joined the Confederacy. Which statement fits the cards best?
- Seven left after Sumter and four before, since the attack split the Deep South
- The call for volunteers caused the departures of eleven states, South Carolina's included
- Seven left after his election, and four more left after Sumter and his call
- Eleven left over his election, and Sumter confirmed a choice the states had already made
Civil War deaths: two estimates
Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: For about a century the usual estimate was about 620,000 men who lost their lives in the war. Neither army kept standard records, and the usual figure for Confederate deaths, about 258,000, rested on incomplete battle reports and a rough guess about disease. In 2011 historian J. David Hacker used census records to estimate about 750,000, with a range of 650,000 to 850,000. James McPherson, a historian of the war, called the higher figure plausible. Hacker says roughly two out of three of the men who lost their lives in the war lost them to disease. Source card "Black soldiers in the Union forces, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: About 179,000 Black men served in the Union Army and about 19,000 in the Navy; the National Archives says almost 200,000 Black soldiers and sailors in all. The War Department set up the United States Colored Troops on May 22, 1863. Black soldiers were first paid 10 dollars a month with 3 dollars taken out for clothing, a net of 7 dollars, while white soldiers received 13 dollars with no clothing deduction. In June 1864 Congress granted equal pay and made it retroactive. Nearly 40,000 Black soldiers lost their lives in the war, about 30,000 of them from infection or disease.
Hacker's census-based range of 650,000 to 850,000 is wide. Tala asks what that range shows about the evidence.
- The range shows historians are guessing, so no figure can be used in an account of the war
- The records cannot fix the number, but the range makes 620,000 an unlikely total
- The range shows the true figure is 750,000, since the midpoint is the likeliest value
- The range shows the method failed, so the older figure of 620,000 should be kept
Lincoln's order of freedom
Who made it: President Abraham Lincoln, as Commander-in-Chief. When: January 1, 1863. Where: Washington. For whom: the nation, the armed forces and the states in rebellion. Why: to free, as a war measure, people held as slaves in the states in rebellion. Excerpt (Emancipation Proclamation; the Statutes at Large, vol. 12, pp. 1268-1269): "… all persons held as slaves within said designated states and parts of states are, and henceforward shall be, free; and that the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons." Source card "The Emancipation Proclamation: its limits". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Lincoln issued the proclamation as a military measure. It covered the states in rebellion, and slavery in the loyal border states of Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri was left as it was. Parts of the Confederacy that Union forces already held were also left out. The promised freedom depended on a Union victory. The proclamation did not end slavery across the nation, but from January 1, 1863, each Union advance widened the area of freedom. It also announced that Black men would be accepted into the Union Army and Navy.
Esme's note says the Emancipation Proclamation freed enslaved people in Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri. What should the note say?
- It freed them gradually there, but required their legislatures to approve each case first
- It left slavery in those loyal border states as it was, and applied to rebelling states
- It freed them there at once, though the freedom held for people who joined the army
- It left them alone until the 14th Amendment, which first applied to those states in 1868
Black soldiers in the Union forces, in brief
Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: About 179,000 Black men served in the Union Army and about 19,000 in the Navy; the National Archives says almost 200,000 Black soldiers and sailors in all. The War Department set up the United States Colored Troops on May 22, 1863. Black soldiers were first paid 10 dollars a month with 3 dollars taken out for clothing, a net of 7 dollars, while white soldiers received 13 dollars with no clothing deduction. In June 1864 Congress granted equal pay and made it retroactive. Nearly 40,000 Black soldiers lost their lives in the war, about 30,000 of them from infection or disease.
Noah's note says Black soldiers were paid equally from the day they enlisted in 1863. What should the note say?
- They were paid equally, but their clothing was charged to them in a separate payment
- They were paid less until the war ended, and Congress did not grant equal pay in 1864
- They were first paid 7 dollars net against 13; equal pay came in June 1864
- They were paid 10 dollars against 13 for white soldiers until Congress acted in 1864
Civil War deaths: two estimates
Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: For about a century the usual estimate was about 620,000 men who lost their lives in the war. Neither army kept standard records, and the usual figure for Confederate deaths, about 258,000, rested on incomplete battle reports and a rough guess about disease. In 2011 historian J. David Hacker used census records to estimate about 750,000, with a range of 650,000 to 850,000. James McPherson, a historian of the war, called the higher figure plausible. Hacker says roughly two out of three of the men who lost their lives in the war lost them to disease.
Ari's note says exactly 620,000 men lost their lives in the Civil War. What should the note say?
- Estimates differ: about 620,000 was usual, and Hacker's census-based estimate is about 750,000
- About 620,000 is right, since it was the usual figure for a century and has not been challenged
- About 750,000 is exact, since it comes from census records that count the households
- The number cannot be known, so the note should give a figure for neither estimate