Civil War Trivia Q&A

Civil War: The Beginning

Choose an answer from the three choices offered after each question and then  "Check Your Answers" at the end of the quiz.

1) What was the date south Carolina seceded from the Union (United States of America)?

• December 20, 1860
• December 25, 1860
• December 30, 1860

2) Fort Sumter located in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina was still unfinished when the Confederate forces opened fire on April 21, 1861. When did construction of the fort begin?

• 1829
• 1849
• 1859

3) Major Robert Anderson commanded the Union forces (68 soldiers, 9 officers, and 8 bandsmen) on Fort Sumter. As a former West Point instructor, Anderson taught what confederate commander?

• Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard
• James Chestnut
• Roger Pryor

4) Confederate forces shelled Fort Sumter for two day and nights before Major Robert Anderson surrendered. About 4,000 pounds of 12 or 20 pound shells penetrated or battered the fort. What was the Union casualties?

• 0
• 10
• 25

5) Union Private Daniel Hough became the first Union soldier killed during the Civil War. When was he killed?

• During Union 50-gun salute accident
• During Confederate 50-gun salute accident
• Stray shot from Confederate solders as Union troops left the fort

6) What was the euphemism Southern (and some others) used when referring to slavery?

• Peculiar institution
• Indentured servitude
• Civil tyranny

7) The cotton gin gave impetuous for the increase in slave labor to pick the cotton, feed the gins, bind the cotton bales, and load cotton bales for shipment.

• Eli Wallace
• Eli Whitney
• Eli Hayes

8) The 1803 Louisiana Purchase gave the United states Frances’s territory from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains between the Gulf of Mexico and the Canadian border. What was the purchase price?

• $15 million
• $150 million
• $250 million

9) What act in 1820 may have staved off war, but showed that war over slavery was going to happen?

• Missouri Compromise
• Davis-Bacon Act
• Foreign Sedation Act

10) What was the latitude, north of which slavery would be permanently banned?

• 36° 30’
• 41° 00’
• 35° 25’

Check Your Answer

• 1) December 20, 1860 is the answer.
• 2) 1829 is the answer.
• 3) Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard is the answer.
• 4) 0 is the answer.
• 5) During Union 50-gun salute accident is the answer.
• 6) Peculiar institution is the answer.
• 7) Eli Whitney is the answer.
• 8) $15 million is the answer.
• 9) Missouri Compromise is the answer.
• 10) 36° 30’ is the answer.