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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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) Bull Run.
(b) Second Manassas.
(c) Gettysburg.
(d) Shiloh.

2. When a Pennsylvania cavalry corporal wrote his mother in 1863, he listed his obligations to duty. In what position did he place his obligation to his mother?
(a) 1st.
(b) 4th.
(c) 2nd.
(d) 3rd.

3. In 1862, after two friends had been killed in an ambush in the Shenandoah Valley, a soldier from which state wrote "we are to take no prisoners after this"?
(a) Michigan.
(b) New Jersey.
(c) Arkansas.
(d) Ohio.

4. In "Chapter 8: The Cause of Liberty," how does McPherson say Southern whites preferred to term "slavery"?
(a) Southern ingenuity.
(b) Southern rights.
(c) Southern way of life.
(d) Southern institutions.

5. 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) Shell shock.
(c) Courage.
(d) Psychiatric casualties.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the discussion of Bell Wiley's study of Billy Yank, how many Union soldiers were interested in emancipation out of every ten surveyed?

2. The November 8, 1865, diary entry of a sergeant in the 8th Ohio cavalry noted that how many members of his regiment had voted for Lincoln, as opposed to sixteen votes for McClellan?

3. In the discussion of the hardships for soldiers' wives, what percentage of officers does McPherson say were married in his sample?

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. As McPherson discusses the statistics for married men versus unmarried men, what percentage of married soldiers does he say were killed in action?

Short Essay Questions

1. When McPherson discusses the extra incentive Confederate soldiers had to keep fighting, what does he say about the Northern opinion of Southern soldiers?

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

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

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

5. In the discussion of revenge, why does McPherson say that the Confederate army was more motivated by hatred and revenge than the Union?

6. Explain the phenomenon of "dry rot," as discussed in "Chapter 10: We Know That We Are Supported at Home."

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

8. In "Chapter 10: We Know That We are Supported at Home," why did some officers worry that married men made bad soldiers?

9. Under what conditions were black soldiers allowed to join the Confederate army during the final year of the Civil War?

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

(see the answer keys)

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