Chapter 3 – People’s Contest, The Ways of Making War, pages 61-85

1.    For what reason did some Americans, those raised during the Jacksonian era, express concern about military experts?  (What did they believe they would do?)

2.    What action did a number of career soldiers and sailors take following the outbreak of war that caused Lincoln to express his distrust of professional soldiers in a speech in July 4, 1861?

3.    What in McClellan’s behavior resurrected anti-professional feelings about the military in the North?

4.    As the Union war effort stalled, critics claimed that not enough emphasis had been placed on moral education or morality at West Point? In what respect they did they (the critics) believe that West Point graduates were being immoral regarding their conduct in the war?

5.    With what did the Committee on the Conduct of the War direct its greatest efforts?

6.    What example reflected McClellan’s desire to keep politicians from meddling in his war planning?

7.    For what reason did McClellan believe his critics were trying to prolong the war?

8.    Identify one reason why in the beginning of the war Lincoln wanted to limit its goal to preserving the Union?

9.    What in McClellan’s conduct of the war reflected his desire to focus on conservative goals?

10. How did McClellan seek to win the war?

11. Identify one reason as to how the dimension of the war limited McClellan’s ability to aggressively prosecute the enemy?

12. What understanding did McClellan have of amateur armies that encourage him to favor defense warfare?

13. What eventually forced McClellan to attack the South?

14. What extra explanation did Lincoln include in General War Order No. 1 to make sure the General McClellan knew Lincoln was referring to him?

15. Why did McClellan dismiss arguments that his peninsula campaign left Washington unprotected?

16. Identify one way in which Ulysses S. Grant contrasted George McClellan.

17. Western generals of the North were more successful than their Eastern counterparts.  Identify one likely reason for this success.

18. In what way did Grant demonstrate his understanding of the war’s necessity for boldness in the taking of Fort Donelson?

19. What did Grant and Sherman experience in their pre-war, civilian careers that they both shared in common?

20. What aspect of the battle of Shiloh led General Grant to conclude that the Civil War would not quickly?

21. Although McClellan’s army handily drove off an attack by Lee at Malvern Hill, what led Lincoln to order the abandonment of the peninsula campaign when McClellan’s army was only 20 miles from Richmond?

22. How did Lincoln react to emancipation orders of Union generals Fremont and Hunter in 1862?

23. For what reason did Secretary of State Seward want Lincoln to wait in announcing emancipation?

24. What kept the battle of Antietam from becoming a total victory for the North?

25. For what campaign did McClellan prepare following his removal from command of the Army of the Potomac?

Chapter 4, People's Contest, The Dialogue of Politics, 1861-1862 - pages 85-105

26. Identify one way in which Lincoln or the Republican party sought to expand their power through bipartisan organization.

27. Identify one reason why the Battle of Bull Run reintroduced political debate in the North.

28. Around what issue did the Democratic party rally as the Union began to suppress war-time dissent?

29. In what way were the Crittenden-Johnson Resolutions passed by Congress considered conservative?

30. In what way did the strength of the Democratic party during the war strengthen the Union war effort?

31. For what reason did the lack of political opposition weaken Confederate political system?

32. What threat spurred Republicans to maintain strong party organization at both national and state levels?

33. For what reason did Confederate state governors feel little or no pressure to obey their president Jefferson Davis?

34. With what words did Democrat Horatio Seymour describe Democrats and Republicans?

35. What issues did Republicans support that Democrats charged the former with forcing the puritanical beliefs of the North on the entire nation?

36. In what way did Democrats and Republicans differ in their understanding of constitutionalism?

37. Identify one example in which the Democratic party drew parallels between Republican party during the Civil War and the British during the American Revolution.

38. What did the image of “the Yankee” hold for most southerners?

39. What was the most compelling weapon in the Democratic arsenal?

40. How did Democrats enflame sexual anxiety in the North in characterizing blacks?

41. Identify one example in which Democrats used racism and fear to erode support from Northern workers of the Republican party?

42. What form of nineteenth century entertainment was entirely devoted to degrading blacks?

43. What became the slogan of the Democratic party during the Civil War?

44. While Mid-western Democrats focused on the dangers of eastern economic imperialism, on what major fears did Eastern Democrats focus?

45. How did Republican candidates in the 1862 election demonstrate the need for Lincoln’s suspension of the writ of habeas corpus following the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation?

46. What did many Democrats claim would happen as a result of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation?

47. In what way did Republicans pander to their constituents’ prejudices?

48. With what understanding did Republican state conventions in Illinois and Michigan endorse emancipation?

49. What major political blunder did the administration make in the Midwest that validated Democratic claims that Republicans planned to flood the North with cheap, black labor?

50. What was most fundamentally responsible for Republican losses in 1862?