1. Explain why Britain finally decided against intervention on behalf of the Confederacy. In what ways was Britain helpful to the South anyway?

2. Write your definition of revolution. Then use this definition to argue that the Civil War did or did not produce a revolution in the political, economic, and social life of the United States.

3. Do you think President Lincoln was justified in his violations of ordinary civil liberties during the Civil War? Why or why not?

4. It has been said that the South’s devotion to states’ rights was a major reason for its failure to win the Civil War. In what way is this probably true?

5. During the Civil War many poor Southerners complained that it was "a rich man’s war but a poor man’s fight." On what basis did they make this complaint? Could Northerners have made the same assertion for the same reason? Explain.

6. When confronted with Southern secession in 1861, why didn’t Lincoln simply allow the South to separate in peace?

7. The Civil War began in 1861. Why was it 1863 before Lincoln committed the Union to the emancipation of slaves?

8. At the outset of the Civil War, the South confidently anticipated that "King Cotton" would guarantee it European intervention. Why didn’t this intervention materialize?

9. Identify the significance of the Border States to both the North and the South. How did they influence the shaping of Union strategy?