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DSST Civil War practice questions

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Question 1The Civil War and Reconstruction

Which event is conventionally treated as the opening engagement of the Civil War?

  1. The bombardment of Fort Sumter Correct answer.
  2. The raid on Harpers Ferry
  3. The First Battle of Bull Run
  4. The Battle of Antietam

Explanation

Confederate batteries fired on the Federal garrison at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor in April 1861, and the surrender of the fort is conventionally treated as the start of the war. The other engagements came later or, in the case of Harpers Ferry, preceded the war as a raid.

Question 2The Civil War and Reconstruction

Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation was issued in his capacity as president using which authority?

  1. His power as commander in chief over rebellious states Correct answer.
  2. A ruling of the Supreme Court
  3. An act of Congress passed over a presidential veto
  4. A constitutional amendment ratified by the states

Explanation

Lincoln justified the proclamation as a war measure grounded in his constitutional role as commander in chief, applying to areas still in rebellion. It did not rest on a constitutional amendment, which came later with the Thirteenth Amendment.

Question 3The Civil War and Reconstruction

Which state was the first to secede from the Union, in December 1860?

  1. Virginia
  2. Georgia
  3. South Carolina Correct answer.
  4. Texas

Explanation

South Carolina's convention voted to secede on December 20, 1860, making it the first state to leave the Union after Lincoln's election. The other states followed in early 1861.

Question 4The Civil War and Reconstruction

The Battle of Gettysburg was fought in which state?

  1. Tennessee
  2. Virginia
  3. Pennsylvania Correct answer.
  4. Maryland

Explanation

Gettysburg is located in southern Pennsylvania, where Lee's Army of Northern Virginia invaded the North in July 1863. The battle ended in a Confederate retreat back across the Potomac.

Question 5The Civil War and Reconstruction

Which general commanded the Army of Northern Virginia at the time of its surrender at Appomattox Court House?

  1. J.E.B. Stuart
  2. Robert E. Lee Correct answer.
  3. Stonewall Jackson
  4. Jubal Early

Explanation

Robert E. Lee commanded the Army of Northern Virginia and surrendered it to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in April 1865. Jackson and Stuart had both died earlier in the war.

Question 6The Civil War and Reconstruction

The Thirteenth Amendment accomplished which of the following?

  1. Granting citizenship to formerly enslaved people
  2. Guaranteeing voting rights regardless of race
  3. Providing for military reconstruction of the South
  4. Abolishing slavery throughout the United States Correct answer.

Explanation

The Thirteenth Amendment, ratified in December 1865, abolished slavery and involuntary servitude except as punishment for crime. Citizenship and voting rights came with the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments.

Question 7The Civil War and Reconstruction

Who was elected president of the Confederate States of America?

  1. Robert Toombs
  2. Jefferson Davis Correct answer.
  3. John C. Breckinridge
  4. Alexander Stephens

Explanation

Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was chosen as the Confederacy's provisional and then permanent president. Alexander Stephens served as his vice president.

Question 8The Civil War and Reconstruction

The Homestead Act of 1862 encouraged western settlement by doing which of the following?

  1. Offering public land to settlers who improved it Correct answer.
  2. Creating the Department of Agriculture
  3. Establishing land-grant colleges
  4. Funding a transcontinental railroad with land grants

Explanation

The Homestead Act granted public land to settlers who resided on and improved a tract for a specified period. The other measures were separate wartime laws passed in the same period.

Question 9The Civil War and Reconstruction

Why did the Union blockade of Confederate ports matter strategically during the war?

  1. It immediately ended all Confederate commerce
  2. It forced Britain to declare war on the Confederacy
  3. It restricted the South's ability to export cotton and import manufactured goods Correct answer.
  4. It prevented Confederate armies from moving troops by rail

Explanation

The blockade aimed to choke off the South's cotton exports and its imports of arms and manufactured goods, weakening its economy and war effort. It was never fully airtight, but it grew more effective over time.

Question 10The Civil War and Reconstruction

The Battle of Antietam is often described as a turning point because it did which of the following?

  1. Ended Confederate hopes in the western theater
  2. Gave Lincoln the political opening to issue the Emancipation Proclamation Correct answer.
  3. Resulted in the capture of Richmond
  4. Convinced Britain to recognize the Confederacy

Explanation

The Union victory at Antietam in September 1862, though not decisive tactically, allowed Lincoln to announce the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation from a position of strength. It also discouraged European recognition of the Confederacy.

Question 11The Civil War and Reconstruction

What was the primary purpose of the Union's Anaconda Plan?

  1. To rely on naval bombardment alone to win the war
  2. To blockade the Southern coast and control the Mississippi River Correct answer.
  3. To capture the Confederate capital in a single rapid campaign
  4. To invade the South through the Appalachian Mountains

Explanation

Winfield Scott's Anaconda Plan envisioned a naval blockade and control of the Mississippi River to split and squeeze the Confederacy. The strategy was implemented gradually over the course of the war.

Question 12The Civil War and Reconstruction

The Enrollment Act of 1863 provoked the New York City draft riots largely because of which provision?

  1. A ban on immigrant enlistment
  2. A requirement that all men serve for the entire war
  3. A commutation fee allowing the wealthy to avoid service Correct answer.
  4. A tax on industrial profits

Explanation

The Enrollment Act permitted draftees to pay a commutation fee or hire a substitute, which many working-class and immigrant New Yorkers saw as favoring the wealthy. The resulting riots in July 1863 were among the war's worst civil disturbances.

Question 13The Civil War and Reconstruction

Why did the Emancipation Proclamation not immediately free enslaved people in the border states?

  1. It applied only to areas in rebellion, and the border states had remained loyal Correct answer.
  2. The border states had already abolished slavery by state law
  3. The proclamation required a Supreme Court ruling before taking effect
  4. Congress had exempted the border states in a separate statute

Explanation

The proclamation was framed as a war measure and applied only to states in rebellion, so it did not touch slavery in loyal border states such as Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, and Delaware. Slavery there ended through later state action and the Thirteenth Amendment.

Question 14The Civil War and Reconstruction

The Battle of Vicksburg is significant primarily because it did which of the following?

  1. Ended the war in the western theater
  2. Opened a direct invasion route to Georgia
  3. Gave the Union control of the Mississippi River and split the Confederacy Correct answer.
  4. Secured Confederate control of the Trans-Mississippi

Explanation

The fall of Vicksburg in July 1863 gave the Union control of the Mississippi River, dividing the Confederacy and cutting off the Trans-Mississippi states. It is often paired with Gettysburg as a turning point.

Question 15The Civil War and Reconstruction

Under the Wade-Davis Bill of 1864, a former Confederate state would be readmitted only after doing which of the following?

  1. Ten percent of voters swore loyalty under Lincoln's plan
  2. A majority of white male citizens swore loyalty and slavery was abolished Correct answer.
  3. The state paid a financial indemnity to the Union
  4. The state ratified the Fifteenth Amendment

Explanation

The Wade-Davis Bill required a majority of white male citizens to take a loyalty oath and required the abolition of slavery before readmission, a much stricter standard than Lincoln's Ten Percent Plan. Lincoln pocket-vetoed the bill.

Question 16The Civil War and Reconstruction

What did the Freedmen's Bureau, established in March 1865, primarily do?

  1. Distribute confiscated land permanently to freedpeople
  2. Organize the Ku Klux Klan's opposition
  3. Provide relief, education, and labor-contract assistance to formerly enslaved people Correct answer.
  4. Administer the military reconstruction of Southern states

Explanation

The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands provided food, medical aid, schools, and help with labor contracts and legal matters. It did not permanently redistribute land, though it briefly managed abandoned and confiscated property.

Question 17The Civil War and Reconstruction

The Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection of the laws is found in which provision?

  1. The due process and equal protection clause applying to the states Correct answer.
  2. Section 2, which apportioned representation
  3. The privileges or immunities clause alone
  4. The citizenship clause's definition of birthright citizenship

Explanation

Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment bars states from denying any person due process or the equal protection of the laws, and this clause became the basis for later civil rights jurisprudence. The citizenship clause and apportionment provisions address different matters.

Question 18The Civil War and Reconstruction

Why did President Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction approach alienate Radical Republicans in Congress?

  1. He sought to confiscate and redistribute plantation land
  2. He refused to allow Southern states to rejoin the Union
  3. He pardoned many former Confederates and allowed restrictive state governments to form Correct answer.
  4. He insisted on immediate Black suffrage in all Southern states

Explanation

Johnson issued generous pardons, allowed Southern states to organize governments under lenient terms, and opposed stronger federal protections, prompting Congress to pass its own Reconstruction legislation over his vetoes. Radicals wanted firmer guarantees of rights for freedpeople.

Question 19The Civil War and Reconstruction

The Tenure of Office Act of 1867 became central to Andrew Johnson's impeachment because it did which of the following?

  1. Created the Freedmen's Bureau
  2. Required the president to obtain Congress's consent before issuing pardons
  3. Established military districts in the former Confederacy
  4. Required Senate approval for removing certain officeholders, which Johnson defied Correct answer.

Explanation

The Tenure of Office Act restricted the president's power to remove officials who had been confirmed by the Senate without Senate consent. Johnson's removal of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton in defiance of the act formed a central charge in his impeachment.

Question 20The Civil War and Reconstruction

The Fifteenth Amendment, ratified in 1870, did which of the following?

  1. Abolished the poll tax in federal elections
  2. Granted women the right to vote nationwide
  3. Guaranteed the right to hold office regardless of race
  4. Prohibited denying the vote on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude Correct answer.

Explanation

The Fifteenth Amendment barred the denial of the franchise on grounds of race, color, or previous servitude, but it did not address other restrictions such as poll taxes and literacy tests. Women's suffrage came with the Nineteenth Amendment.

Question 21The Civil War and Reconstruction

The Compromise of 1877 that ended Reconstruction is best characterized as which of the following?

  1. A Supreme Court decision awarding the election to Tilden
  2. A constitutional amendment settling the electoral dispute
  3. A treaty with former Confederate leaders restoring their citizenship
  4. A political bargain that awarded the presidency to Hayes in exchange for withdrawing federal troops from the South Correct answer.

Explanation

The Compromise of 1877 resolved the disputed 1876 election by awarding the presidency to Rutherford B. Hayes in return for the withdrawal of federal troops from the remaining Southern states, effectively ending Reconstruction. It was a political arrangement rather than a legal ruling.

Question 22The Civil War and Reconstruction

The Slaughter-House Cases (1873) mattered for Reconstruction because they did which of the following?

  1. Narrowly interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment's privileges or immunities clause Correct answer.
  2. Upheld the Civil Rights Act of 1875
  3. Struck down the Fourteenth Amendment as unconstitutional
  4. Required states to desegregate public schools

Explanation

The Slaughter-House Cases read the privileges or immunities clause narrowly, limiting its reach to a small set of national rights and leaving most protections to the states. This narrowing weakened the Fourteenth Amendment's potential as a tool for protecting freedpeople.

Question 23The Civil War and Reconstruction

Why is the election of 1864 sometimes called a referendum on the war?

  1. It was conducted entirely by mail among soldiers
  2. It decided whether the Confederacy would be recognized by Britain
  3. It was the first election held under the Fourteenth Amendment
  4. Lincoln's victory over McClellan signaled continued support for pursuing the war and emancipation Correct answer.

Explanation

Lincoln's defeat of George B. McClellan, the Democratic nominee, indicated that a majority of voters supported continuing the war and the emancipation policy. McClellan's platform had called for peace negotiations, making the result a meaningful signal.

Question 24The Civil War and Reconstruction

The term 'contraband' as used by Union forces early in the war referred to which of the following?

  1. Confiscated Confederate cotton sold to finance the war
  2. Captured Confederate artillery pieces
  3. Enslaved people who fled to Union lines and were treated as war property Correct answer.
  4. Smuggled goods brought through the blockade

Explanation

Union commanders initially classified enslaved people who reached their lines as 'contraband of war,' avoiding a direct emancipation policy while denying their labor to the Confederacy. This practice preceded and helped set the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation.

Question 25The Civil War and Reconstruction

The New York City draft riots of July 1863 are best understood in the context of which combination of factors?

  1. A dispute over the transcontinental railroad route
  2. Opposition to the Thirteenth Amendment
  3. Southern military victories near New York
  4. Class resentment over commutation, competition for jobs, and racial tension Correct answer.

Explanation

The riots combined working-class anger at a draft law that allowed the wealthy to buy exemptions, fear of competition from Black laborers, and broader racial hostility. The violence targeted both draft offices and Black residents.

Question 26The Civil War and Reconstruction

The Crittenden Compromise, proposed in December 1860, attempted to resolve the secession crisis chiefly by doing which of the following?

  1. Creating a single new state out of the western territories
  2. Extending the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific and protecting slavery south of it Correct answer.
  3. Authorizing federal troops to occupy the seceded states
  4. Abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia immediately

Explanation

Senator John Crittenden of Kentucky proposed reviving the 36°30′ line and extending it to the Pacific, with slavery protected in territories south of the line. Congress would also be barred from interfering with slavery where it already existed. Republicans rejected the plan because it would open new territory to slavery, and it failed.

Question 27The Civil War and Reconstruction

At Fort Sumter in April 1861, the first shots of the war were fired after Lincoln made which decision?

  1. Declaring war on the Confederate States of America
  2. Announcing that he would send provisions rather than reinforcements or weapons to the garrison Correct answer.
  3. Ordering the fort's garrison to bombard Charleston
  4. Withdrawing the garrison and surrendering the fort to South Carolina

Explanation

Lincoln notified South Carolina that he intended to resupply the fort with food only, not troops or munitions. He thereby placed the choice of peace or war on the Confederacy, which opened fire on April 12, 1861. This framing mattered because it kept the border states from blaming the Union for starting the conflict.

Question 28The Civil War and Reconstruction

Which group of states was most critical to Lincoln's decision to frame the war as a fight to preserve the Union rather than an immediate crusade against slavery?

  1. The slaveholding border states that remained in the Union Correct answer.
  2. The states of the upper South that had already seceded
  3. The Pacific coast states
  4. The New England states

Explanation

Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri remained in the Union while still permitting slavery. Lincoln feared that premature emancipation rhetoric would push them into the Confederacy, which would have cost the Union manpower and strategic ground. He therefore emphasized union above abolition in 1861 and early 1862.

Question 29The Civil War and Reconstruction

The Union's capture of New Orleans in April 1862 was strategically important mainly because it did which of the following?

  1. Closed the Confederacy's last remaining railroad link to the West
  2. Persuaded Britain to recognize the Confederacy
  3. Ended Confederate resistance in the Trans-Mississippi
  4. Secured control of the largest Confederate city and a major Mississippi River port Correct answer.

Explanation

Admiral Farragut's fleet ran past the forts below the city and forced its surrender. New Orleans was the South's largest city and the outlet for much of its cotton trade, so its loss was a severe blow to Confederate commerce and morale. It also gave the Union a foothold for pushing up the Mississippi.

Question 30The Civil War and Reconstruction

The Battle of Shiloh in April 1862 is remembered in military terms chiefly because it did which of the following?

  1. Established Union control of the Mississippi River from source to mouth
  2. Marked the first use of ironclad warships in the war
  3. Demonstrated that the war would be long and costly, ending hopes for a quick Union victory in the West Correct answer.
  4. Forced Confederate forces to abandon Tennessee permanently

Explanation

The enormous casualties at Shiloh, roughly 23,000 combined, shocked both sections and showed that the war would not be settled by a single decisive battle. Grant's army survived a surprise attack and ultimately drove the Confederates from the field. The scale of bloodshed foreshadowed later campaigns such as Antietam and Gettysburg.

Question 31The Civil War and Reconstruction

Which Union general is best known for the Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1862, in which a smaller Confederate force repeatedly defeated larger Union commands?

  1. Joseph E. Johnston
  2. George B. McClellan
  3. Thomas J. Jackson Correct answer.
  4. John Pope

Explanation

Thomas J. 'Stonewall' Jackson used rapid marches and knowledge of the valley terrain to defeat several Union forces in detail during 1862. His campaign tied down Union troops that might otherwise have reinforced McClellan on the Peninsula. It remains a classic study in the concentration of force against separated enemies.

Question 32The Civil War and Reconstruction

The Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863 is often cited as Robert E. Lee's greatest tactical victory because he did which of the following?

  1. Used cavalry to cut the Union supply line before the fighting began
  2. Held a fortified position behind extensive earthworks for weeks
  3. Divided his outnumbered army and sent Jackson on a flanking march around Hooker's right Correct answer.
  4. Received reinforcements from the Army of Tennessee just in time

Explanation

Facing a larger Union army under Joseph Hooker, Lee audaciously split his forces, leaving a small holding force and sending Jackson around the Union right flank. The surprise attack collapsed Hooker's position. The victory cost the Confederacy heavily, including Jackson, who was mortally wounded by friendly fire.

Question 33The Civil War and Reconstruction

The Gettysburg Address, delivered in November 1863, was given primarily for which purpose?

  1. To outline a plan for the economic reconstruction of the South
  2. To dedicate the cemetery for Union dead at the battlefield Correct answer.
  3. To announce the Emancipation Proclamation's expansion to new states
  4. To call for the immediate readmission of the seceded states

Explanation

Lincoln spoke at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg. In a few minutes he reframed the war as a test of whether a nation founded on liberty could endure. The address was ceremonial in occasion but carried lasting political meaning.

Question 34The Civil War and Reconstruction

The July 1863 riots in New York City were most directly triggered by which of the following?

  1. News of the Union defeat at Chancellorsville
  2. The closing of the port of New York by Confederate raiders
  3. The start of the first federal conscription lottery under the Enrollment Act Correct answer.
  4. The assassination of President Lincoln

Explanation

The Enrollment Act of March 1863 established a national draft, and the drawing of names in New York City in July set off violent riots. Resentment focused on the commutation fee that allowed wealthier men to avoid service. The violence also turned against Black residents, revealing racial tensions in the North.

Question 35The Civil War and Reconstruction

In the 1863 campaign for Chattanooga, the decisive Union victory at Missionary Ridge resulted in which outcome?

  1. The Confederacy regained control of the Mississippi River
  2. The Union abandoned its advance into the western theater
  3. Confederate forces were driven out of Tennessee and the gateway to Georgia was opened Correct answer.
  4. Lee's army was forced to abandon Richmond

Explanation

After the Union defeat at Chickamauga, Grant and Sherman restored the situation at Chattanooga. The storming of Missionary Ridge in November 1863 drove Bragg's army into Georgia. Chattanooga then served as the base for Sherman's Atlanta campaign the following year.

Question 36The Civil War and Reconstruction

Why did the Union's Red River campaign of 1864 in Louisiana fall short of its objectives?

  1. Union forces were diverted to defend Washington from a Confederate invasion
  2. The campaign was canceled before any troops were sent
  3. The French navy intervened on behalf of the Confederacy
  4. Confederate forces under Richard Taylor and low water levels disrupted the combined army-navy advance Correct answer.

Explanation

General Banks's advance up the Red River was harassed by Taylor's Confederates, and falling water levels threatened to trap Porter's gunboat fleet. The Union forces withdrew, and the campaign did not secure the cotton and territory it had targeted. It exposed weaknesses in army-navy coordination in the Trans-Mississippi.

Question 37The Civil War and Reconstruction

The Confederate commerce raider Alabama, built in Britain and commanded by Raphael Semmes, is best described as which of the following?

  1. A transport used to move Confederate troops across the Mississippi
  2. A warship that attacked Union merchant shipping around the world Correct answer.
  3. An ironclad designed to break the Union blockade of Charleston
  4. A blockade runner carrying medicine through the Union cordon

Explanation

The Alabama was a cruiser, not a blockade runner, and it ranged across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans burning Union merchant ships. Its depredations raised insurance costs and drove American shipping to foreign flags. The ship was finally sunk by the USS Kearsarge off Cherbourg in 1864.

Question 38The Civil War and Reconstruction

The Trent Affair of late 1861 became diplomatically dangerous because a U.S. naval officer did which of the following?

  1. Blockaded British ports in the West Indies
  2. Arrested a British consul in New Orleans
  3. Bombarded a British merchant vessel in the Caribbean
  4. Seized two Confederate envoys from a British mail steamer, provoking British outrage Correct answer.

Explanation

Captain Charles Wilkes stopped the British steamer Trent and removed James Mason and John Slidell, the Confederate commissioners to Britain and France. Britain protested the violation of neutral shipping rights and prepared for possible war. Lincoln's government eventually released the envoys, defusing the crisis.

Question 39The Civil War and Reconstruction

Why did Confederate hopes for diplomatic recognition by Britain fade during the course of the war?

  1. Britain formally allied with the Union and declared war on the Confederacy
  2. Queen Victoria personally ordered an end to all trade with the Confederacy
  3. British dependence on Northern grain and antislavery sentiment outweighed the value of Southern cotton Correct answer.
  4. The Confederacy refused to sell cotton to British mills

Explanation

The 'cotton famine' hurt British textile workers, but Britain found alternative cotton sources and depended heavily on imported Northern wheat. Antislavery opinion, strengthened by the Emancipation Proclamation, made recognition politically costly. Britain never extended recognition to the Confederacy.

Question 40The Civil War and Reconstruction

Which of the following best describes the Copperheads during the Civil War?

  1. Union officers assigned to suppress draft resistance
  2. Confederate agents operating in Canada
  3. Radical Republicans who demanded immediate abolition
  4. Northern Democrats who opposed the war and pressed for a negotiated peace Correct answer.

Explanation

The Copperheads, or Peace Democrats, argued that the war was a failure and that the Union should negotiate with the Confederacy. They drew support from parts of the Midwest and from immigrants hostile to conscription. Their influence peaked in 1863 and 1864 but was ultimately repudiated in the election of 1864.

Question 41The Civil War and Reconstruction

The Union's Overland Campaign of 1864, from the Wilderness to Cold Harbor, is significant primarily because it did which of the following?

  1. Persuaded the Confederacy to abandon its capital without a fight
  2. Inflicted relentless attrition on Lee's army while keeping the Army of the Potomac on the offensive Correct answer.
  3. Forced Lee to surrender at Appomattox
  4. Captured Richmond and ended the war in 1864

Explanation

Grant accepted heavy casualties but refused to retreat after each battle, instead maneuvering south and forcing Lee onto the defensive around Petersburg. The campaign demonstrated a strategy of attrition that the Confederacy could not sustain in manpower or resources. It set the stage for the siege of Petersburg.

Question 42The Civil War and Reconstruction

The Battle of Mobile Bay in August 1864 is best remembered for which of the following?

  1. The capture of the Confederate ironclad Tennessee without a fight
  2. The sinking of the CSS Virginia by the Monitor
  3. The first use of a submarine to sink a Union warship
  4. Admiral Farragut's run past the forts and torpedoes, with the famous order about the torpedoes Correct answer.

Explanation

Farragut led his fleet into the bay past Fort Morgan and through a minefield, traditionally remembered for the command 'Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.' The Confederate ironclad Tennessee was eventually forced to surrender after a fight. The victory closed a major blockade-running port.

Question 43The Civil War and Reconstruction

The Hampton Roads Conference of February 1865 failed to produce peace mainly because of disagreement over which issue?

  1. Whether the war would continue in the West
  2. Whether Confederate states could return with slavery intact and on terms short of independence Correct answer.
  3. Whether Britain would mediate the settlement
  4. Which general would command the postwar army

Explanation

Lincoln met Confederate commissioners aboard a steamer at Hampton Roads and insisted on reunion and the end of slavery. The Confederates sought independence or at least terms that preserved their institutions. No agreement was possible, and the war continued until the spring of 1865.

Question 44The Civil War and Reconstruction

General Sherman's Special Field Orders No. 15, issued in January 1865, are historically significant because they did which of the following?

  1. Established martial law throughout the former Confederacy
  2. Ordered the arrest of Confederate political leaders
  3. Required the enlistment of Black soldiers in the Union army
  4. Set aside coastal land for the settlement of freedpeople Correct answer.

Explanation

The orders reserved coastal islands and abandoned rice fields from Charleston southward for the settlement of freedpeople in plots of up to forty acres. The promise became known as 'forty acres and a mule,' though later policy largely reversed it. The episode became central to debates over land and Reconstruction.

Question 45The Civil War and Reconstruction

Why did the Confederate surrender at Appomattox Court House in April 1865 not immediately end all fighting?

  1. Other Confederate armies in the field, such as Johnston's in North Carolina, had not yet surrendered Correct answer.
  2. The Confederate government ordered a renewed offensive from Texas
  3. Union forces continued to attack after the agreement
  4. Lee refused to sign the surrender terms

Explanation

Lee's surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia was the largest but not the last capitulation. Johnston's army in North Carolina surrendered later in April, and Confederate forces in the Trans-Mississippi followed in May. The war ended in stages rather than at a single moment.

Question 46The Civil War and Reconstruction

The assassination of Lincoln in April 1865 affected Reconstruction chiefly because it did which of the following?

  1. Caused Congress to abandon the Thirteenth Amendment
  2. Led to the immediate readmission of the seceded states
  3. Placed Andrew Johnson, a Tennessee Unionist with different priorities, in the presidency Correct answer.
  4. Ended all federal efforts to protect freedpeople

Explanation

Lincoln's death elevated Vice President Andrew Johnson, a former senator from Tennessee who had remained loyal to the Union. Johnson's lenient approach and hostility to Radical measures set up a confrontation with Congress. The change in leadership shaped the entire course of presidential Reconstruction.

Question 47The Civil War and Reconstruction

The 'Black Codes' enacted by southern legislatures in 1865 and 1866 are best understood as which of the following?

  1. Laws designed to regulate and restrict the freedom of formerly enslaved people Correct answer.
  2. Labor contracts negotiated by the Freedmen's Bureau
  3. Statutes granting Black men the right to vote
  4. Federal regulations imposed on the former Confederate states

Explanation

Southern states passed laws restricting movement, labor, and legal rights of Black residents, often through vagrancy and apprenticeship provisions. These codes convinced many Northerners that the South intended to restore a form of servitude. Outrage over the codes strengthened support for the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Fourteenth Amendment.

Question 48The Civil War and Reconstruction

The Civil Rights Act of 1866 was significant in part because it did which of the following?

  1. Established the Freedmen's Bureau as a permanent cabinet department
  2. Declared that all persons born in the United States were citizens with equal benefit of the laws, over President Johnson's veto Correct answer.
  3. Granted women the right to vote in federal elections
  4. Required southern states to ratify the Fifteenth Amendment

Explanation

The act defined citizenship and guaranteed basic civil rights, and Congress overrode Johnson's veto to enact it. Its constitutional basis was questioned, which prompted the drafting of the Fourteenth Amendment. It marked the first time Congress overrode a presidential veto on a major Reconstruction measure.

Question 49The Civil War and Reconstruction

The Reconstruction Acts of 1867 required the former Confederate states, other than Tennessee, to do which of the following before being readmitted?

  1. Form new constitutions under military supervision and ratify the Fourteenth Amendment Correct answer.
  2. Elect only former Unionists to state office
  3. Ratify the Fifteenth Amendment and pay a war indemnity
  4. Abolish their state governments and accept direct federal rule permanently

Explanation

Congress divided the South into five military districts and required new state constitutions with Black male suffrage, followed by ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. Tennessee, having already ratified the amendment, was exempted. These acts formed the basis of Radical Reconstruction.

Question 50The Civil War and Reconstruction

Why did the impeachment of Andrew Johnson in 1868 fail to remove him from office?

  1. Johnson resigned before the Senate vote
  2. The House refused to approve articles of impeachment
  3. The Senate fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction Correct answer.
  4. The Supreme Court ruled the impeachment unconstitutional

Explanation

The House impeached Johnson in 1868 over his removal of Secretary of War Stanton, in apparent violation of the Tenure of Office Act. The Senate trial ended with a vote of 35 to 19 for conviction, one short of the required two-thirds. Johnson completed his term, though his influence was broken.