Westward Expansion, Sectionalism, and the Civil War (1820-1865) — High School U.S. History practice questions

Sherman's March to the Sea (1864) is an example of:

1. guerrilla warfare
2. trench warfare
3. total war
4. a naval blockade

Answer: C — total war

C) Correct — He destroyed railroads, crops and property to break the South's will and ability to fight. A) Uses small, irregular raiding units. B) Defined the siege of Petersburg and World War I. D) Was a separate Union strategy.

The Wilmot Proviso (1846) proposed:

1. banning slavery in any land won from Mexico in the war
2. paying Mexico for Texas
3. allowing slavery everywhere in the West
4. admitting California as a slave state

Answer: A — banning slavery in any land won from Mexico in the war

A) Correct — It passed the House but failed in the Senate, sharpening sectional conflict. B) Isn't what it proposed. C) Reverses it. D) Isn't what it proposed.

“Bleeding Kansas” refers to:

1. a Civil War battle in Kansas
2. violence between proslavery and antislavery settlers in the mid-1850s
3. a drought that ruined Kansas farms
4. fighting between Kansas settlers and the Mexican army

Answer: B — violence between proslavery and antislavery settlers in the mid-1850s

B) Correct — Both sides rushed to settle Kansas to control the slavery vote. A) The fighting came before the war. C) Isn't the meaning. D) Isn't the meaning.

The Battle of Antietam (1862) mattered most because it:

1. ended the war
2. was the first battle of the war
3. let Lincoln issue the Emancipation Proclamation
4. gave the Union full control of the Mississippi River

Answer: C — let Lincoln issue the Emancipation Proclamation

C) Correct — The Union stopped Lee's first invasion of the North, giving Lincoln the victory he wanted before announcing emancipation. A) Fighting went on for nearly three years. B) Was Fort Sumter. D) Was Vicksburg, 1863.

The Battle of Gettysburg (1863) was a turning point because it:

1. let the Union capture the Confederate capital
2. brought Britain into the war
3. was the last battle of the war
4. ended Lee's last invasion of the North

Answer: D — ended Lee's last invasion of the North

D) Correct — Confederate losses there were never made up. A) Richmond fell in 1865. B) Britain stayed out. C) The war went on two more years.

Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) mattered politically because it:

1. convinced the South to free enslaved people
2. ended the Fugitive Slave Act
3. started the Mexican-American War
4. turned many Northerners against slavery

Answer: D — turned many Northerners against slavery

D) Correct — Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel made slavery's cruelty vivid to millions of readers. A) The South rejected it. B) The law stayed in force. C) Isn't connected.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) let settlers decide on slavery through:

1. popular sovereignty
2. the Missouri Compromise line
3. a Supreme Court ruling
4. a constitutional amendment

Answer: A — popular sovereignty

A) Correct — It repealed the Missouri Compromise line, setting off violence in Kansas. B) The act repealed it. C) Isn't the method. D) Isn't the method.

Southern states began to secede right after:

1. the attack on Fort Sumter
2. the Dred Scott decision
3. the Emancipation Proclamation
4. Lincoln's election in 1860

Answer: D — Lincoln's election in 1860

D) Correct — South Carolina left in December 1860; six more followed before Lincoln took office. A) Seven states had already seceded before it. B) Came in 1857, three years earlier. C) Came during the war.

The Emancipation Proclamation (1863) declared free the enslaved people:

1. in every state, North and South
2. only in the border states
3. after the 13th Amendment was ratified
4. in areas still in rebellion

Answer: D — in areas still in rebellion

D) Correct — It exempted the loyal border states and areas under Union control. A) It didn't apply to loyal states. B) It exempted them. C) Came in 1865, separately.

The Republican Party was founded in the 1850s mainly to:

1. abolish slavery everywhere at once
2. protect each state's right to nullify federal laws
3. stop the spread of slavery into the western territories
4. expand slavery into Kansas

Answer: C — stop the spread of slavery into the western territories

C) Correct — Most early Republicans opposed expansion of slavery, not slavery where it existed. A) Was the abolitionist position, beyond most Republicans then. B) Isn't its founding aim. D) Reverses its aim.

Where did the Civil War begin?

Fort Sumter, South Carolina, in April 1861.

What was the Mexican-American War (1846–48)?

U.S. conflict with Mexico over Texas annexation and disputed border. Ended with Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ceding the Mexican Cession to the U.S.

What was the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)?

Allowed popular sovereignty on slavery in Kansas and Nebraska, repealing the Missouri Compromise. Led to 'Bleeding Kansas.'

What was the Underground Railroad?

A secret network of safe houses helping enslaved people escape to free states and Canada. Harriet Tubman was a famous conductor.