HST 202 - Midterm #2

Essay Questions

Choose one question from Section A and one from Section B.

Suggestion: Be sure to answer the question and back your position with facts. Write clearly and do not use the first person when you write.

Section A

#1 The conflict that broke out in 1861 has been called the following:

1) The Civil War, 2) The War Between the States, 3) The War for Southern Independence, 4) The War of the Secession, 5) The Second American Revolution, 6) A Civil War within a Civil War, 7) The Second American War of Independence, 8) The War of Yankee Aggression, 9) The War for the Union, 10) The War for Southern Self-Determination, 11) The War for Freedom, 12) The Brothers' War.

Which of these terms, in your judgement, is least in accord with the facts and which is most in accord with the facts?

#2 Giving reasons, discuss which item in each of the following pairs did more to win the Civil War for the North: a) the McCormick reaper or the skill of the Union generals, b) the blockade of Southern ports or the attitude of foreign powers, c) the statesmanship of President Lincoln or the superior resources of the North.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Section B

#3 Discuss the validity of the assertion that Radical reconstruction, even more than the Civil War, drastically and permanently altered the nation's political and social structure.

#4 What were the worst blunders of Reconstruction that might have been avoided, and what were the blunders that could not have been avoided? Explain.

#5 Comment on the following statement:

"If the Radical Republicans were friends of the ex-slaves, then they certainly did not need any enemies."