View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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?
(a) Bull Run.
(b) Malvern Hill.
(c) Fredericksburg.
(d) Shiloh.

2. As "Chapter 12: The Same Holy Cause" opens, McPherson says that Civil War soldiers never heard of all BUT WHICH of the following terms?
(a) Battle fatigue.
(b) Courage.
(c) Psychiatric casualties.
(d) Shell shock.

3. When a sergeant in the 8th Georgia wrote to his family in 1863 that he would willingly sacrifice his life upon the altar of his country, readers learn that he did so in which battle?
(a) Shiloh.
(b) Second Manassas.
(c) Bull Run.
(d) Gettysburg.

4. After the battle of Antietam, the colonel of the 20th Massachusetts disappeared and was later found wandering without food or water and without having changed clothes for how long?
(a) 6 days.
(b) 48 hours.
(c) 3 months.
(d) 4 weeks.

5. 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) Henry James.
(c) Ernest Hemingway.
(d) John Steinbeck.

Short Answer Questions

1. After discussing Civil War soldiers' convictions, what commodity does McPherson say was most sought-after in camp, second to letters from home?

2. 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?

3. 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"?

4. After the three month Peninsula campaign, a Pennsylvania private wrote that he had lived on how many crackers from Thursday through Monday?

5. In the discussion of the Emancipation Proclamation, McPherson says that in his sample of Union soldiers, what percentage favored emancipation through the spring of 1863?

Short Essay Questions

1. In the discussion of the mail service, why was it more difficult for the Confederate army to maintain efficient mail service than it was for the Union army?

2. Describe the information and political education level maintained by soldiers in "Chapter 7: On the Altar of My Country."

3. Explain the massacres of black soldiers, as discussed in "Chapter 11: Vengeance Will be Our Motto."

4. What types of letters did Confederate soldiers begin sending home toward the end of "Chapter 11: Vengeance Will be Our Motto"?

5. At the close of "Chapter 12: The Same Holy Cause," what final lessons does McPherson hope readers take from the book?

6. Why are there no letters from black Union soldiers, according to "Chapter 9: Slavery Must be Cleaned Out"?

7. In "Chapter 9: Slavery Must be Cleaned Out," what convinced non-abolitionist Union soldiers that slavery was an evil that must be stopped?

8. Based on the discussion of post-traumatic stress disorder, how likely does McPherson consider the possibility that many regiments suffered from this now well-acknowledged psychological issue?

9. How did Northern soldiers initially respond when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation?

10. In Lincoln's discussions of democracy, what fear did he express if the South should be allowed to secede?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,243 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample