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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. After discussing how the language of soldiers in letters home is cliche today, McPherson says that which writer noted that World War I made words like "glory" mock-heroic?
(a) Ernest Hemingway.
(b) John Steinbeck.
(c) Henry James.
(d) Walt Whitman.

2. As "Chapter 7: On the Altar of My Country" begins, McPherson quotes an analysis of surviving Tennessee soldiers that showed they weren't really aware of the South's goals during the Civil War. Which decade was the analysis?
(a) 1890s.
(b) 1910s.
(c) 1870s.
(d) 1920s.

3. While attempting to define the "glorious institutions" that kept men fighting during the Civil War, a soldier from which state defined it as "the guaranty of the rights of property, liberty of action, freedom of thought, religion...that kind of government that shall assure life liberty & the pursuit of happiness"?
(a) Michigan.
(b) Virginia.
(c) Ohio.
(d) Kentucky.

4. At the end of "Chapter 7: On the Altar of My Country," McPherson says what percentage of the soldiers that comprised his sample material lost their lives in action?
(a) 21%.
(b) 48%.
(c) 94%.
(d) 14%.

5. According to "Chapter 9: Slavery Must be Cleaned Out," what fraction of Union soldiers came from Democratic backgrounds?
(a) 2/5.
(b) 1/5.
(c) 4/5.
(d) 3/5.

6. From which state was the lieutenant who wrote in March 1862 that he would never "be instrumental in returning a slave to his master in any way shape or manner, I'll die first"?
(a) Ohio.
(b) Wisconsin.
(c) Tennessee.
(d) Massachusetts.

7. In "Chapter 8: The Cause of Liberty," which immigrant group drew the clearest parallels between the fight for the Union and the fight for liberty in their home country?
(a) German Americans.
(b) Irish Americans.
(c) Italian Americans.
(d) Russian Americans.

8. While talking about the Emancipation Proclamation's effect on Union morale, McPherson says that, in comparison to enlisted men, what percentage of officers supported emancipation?
(a) 44%.
(b) 78%.
(c) 25%.
(d) 89%.

9. On July 1, 1864, a captain for the 103rd Illinois wrote that it was day sixty-two for his regiment, and that they'd spent how many of those days under fire?
(a) 50.
(b) 33.
(c) 48.
(d) 62.

10. Which most notorious massacre of black prisoners happened on April 12, 1864?
(a) Port Royal.
(b) Plymouth.
(c) Fort Pillow.
(d) Poison Springs.

11. When discussing the assertions of patriotism as a motivation for fighting, what percentage of the 429 Confederate letters and diaries used as sources affirmed this motivation?
(a) 27%.
(b) 43%.
(c) 66%.
(d) 84%.

12. As McPherson discusses the statistics for married men versus unmarried men, what percentage of married soldiers does he say were killed in action?
(a) 13%.
(b) 48%.
(c) 23%.
(d) 67%.

13. After the Seven Days battles, a private in the 58th Virginia wrote that through August and September his regiment had waded the Potomac how many times?
(a) 4.
(b) 2.
(c) 6.
(d) 12.

14. In the discussion of Bell Wiley's study of Billy Yank, how many Union soldiers were interested in emancipation out of every ten surveyed?
(a) 10.
(b) 8.
(c) 4.
(d) 1.

15. When a twenty-five year old soldier in the 2nd Vermont married his fiancee during a furlough in "Chapter 10: We Know That We are Supported at Home," how many months was he with her during the first year of marriage?
(a) 10.
(b) 4.
(c) 1.
(d) 7.

Short Answer Questions

1. Right before the battle of Gettysburg, a lieutenant in the 53rd Georgia wrote to his wife, that Pennsylvania was the greatest country he'd ever seen; what was his wife's name?

2. When talking about the frustrations of Union soldiers in the last two years of the war, what amount do readers learn drafted men could pay to acquire a substitute?

3. Which soldier in the 103rd Ohio denounced the Emancipation Proclamation in letters to family from January to March of 1863?

4. An Illinois cavalryman, who wrote a letter home on January 12, 1865, used the word "duty" how many times in a single sentence?

5. Which individual won the nomination for governor of Ohio on an antiwar platform in June 1863?

(see the answer keys)

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