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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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) 12.
(c) 2.
(d) 6.

2. At the end of "Chapter 8: The Cause of Liberty," by what year had Northern soldiers broadened their concept of liberty to include black people?
(a) 1865.
(b) 1864.
(c) 1863.
(d) 1862.

3. When McPherson says that Confederates sought to preserve their honor by killing black soldiers who tried to surrender, which place is NOT a documented occurrence of massacres?
(a) Poison Springs.
(b) Fort Pillow.
(c) Plymouth.
(d) Port Royal.

4. During the discussion of what sustained soldiers during the Civil War, what does McPherson say was a dominant theme in the letters home?
(a) Despair.
(b) Homesickness.
(c) Anger.
(d) Courage.

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

6. From which state was the private who wrote in January 1862, after speaking to a slave whose husband had been beaten, that he was convinced of the "cruelty and inhumanity of the system"?
(a) New York.
(b) Pennsylvania.
(c) Kentucky.
(d) Louisiana.

7. Between May 5 and June 22, 1864, the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia experienced casualties amounting to what percent of their original strength?
(a) 49%.
(b) 60%.
(c) 38%.
(d) 95%.

8. 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) Walt Whitman.
(b) John Steinbeck.
(c) Ernest Hemingway.
(d) Henry James.

9. In the spring of 1862, soldiers from which state felt a redoubled commitment to the war effort when large portions of their home state fell to the "insolent invader"?
(a) Tennessee.
(b) Maryland.
(c) Georgia.
(d) Mississippi.

10. In the discussion of the psychological and physiological issues soldiers faced in 1864, modern studies have shown that a unit is exhausted if it twice suffers what fraction of casualties?
(a) 1/3.
(b) 2/5.
(c) 1/4.
(d) 3/5.

11. When discussing the hardships of soldiers' wives, McPherson says that failure to fight for one's country would be seen to dishonor all BUT WHICH of the following?
(a) Wife.
(b) Ancestors.
(c) Children.
(d) Posterity.

12. During the discussion of the desire to punish treason and "clean out" the rebels, a soldier from which state wrote his sister "I want to fight the rest of my life if necessary"?
(a) Texas.
(b) Michigan.
(c) Wisconsin.
(d) Illinois.

13. During the discussion of what sustained soldiers during the Civil War, which of the following played a large part in maintaining morale?
(a) Religion.
(b) Mail.
(c) Battles.
(d) Parties.

14. From which state was the sergeant, three times wounded, stationed near Vicksburg who described debates in his brigade during the winter of 1863-1964?
(a) Virginia.
(b) Illinois.
(c) Texas.
(d) New Jersey.

15. As "Chapter 9: Slavery Must be Cleaned Out" opens, McPherson says a Texas private predicted Confederate victory how long before General Lee surrendered at Appomattox?
(a) 2 years.
(b) 1 year.
(c) 4 weeks.
(d) 6 months.

Short Answer Questions

1. By 1864, when a captain in the 5th Alabama wrote of the burning of Chambersburg, how much money did he say soldiers demanded from their victims' houses?

2. 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?

3. During the discussion of the Confederate response to the Emancipation Proclamation, what percentage of the sample 429 Confederate letters voiced pro-slavery arguments?

4. In 1863, when an infantry colonel said he began "to think no Soldier ought to be married," readers learn that he is from state?

5. A forty year old captain of the 18th Massachusetts wrote his wife in August 1862 that he'd rather fight for years than for his sons to continue it. In what battle was he killed four months later?

(see the answer keys)

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