Ken Burns: The Civil War

Episode 1

Documentary Questions

Prologue:

  1. In whose front yard and living room did the war begin and end?

Chapter 1: The Civil War

  1. How many men fought in the Civil War?
  2. What people, if any, do you recognize in the photographs shown?
  3. In what year did the last Civil War veteran die?

Chapter 2: The Cause

  1. Where did most people live in 1861?

Chapter 3: All Night Forever

  1. What kind of song is playing in this section? Why?
  2. Describe how the photographs of the slaves look to you.
  3. How old could an average slave expect to live until?
  4. What invention made slavery more important?

10.How many slaves were there in America in 1860?

Chapter 4: Are We Free?

11.What abolitionist published the anti-Slavery newspaper called the

Liberator?

12.Who was called “Moses” by the slaves that followed her North to

freedom?

13.Which ex-slave became famous after writing an autobiography and

purchased his freedom?

14.Who swore to “consecrate his life to thedestruction of slavery”?

Chapter 5: A House Divided

15. Where was Abraham Lincoln born?

16. What book, published in 1852, portrayed thehorrors of slavery and moved

readers as nothing else had?

17. In what territory did pro and anti-slavery forces fight for over ten years?

18. What slave did the Supreme court refuse to free in 1857?

19. “A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand,” said Abraham Lincoln. What

do you think this statement means?

Chapter 6: The Meteor

20. Who was called “the Meteor of the War”?

21. What “crime” was this man tried for? What was his sentence?

22. What was the name of the Southern Army that developed after this

incident?

Chapter 7: Secessionitis

23. What does Secession mean?

24. Who did the Republican Party nominate to run for President in 1860?

25. Which Southern state called for a convention to consider seceding from the

Union after the Election of 1860?

26. What did Southerners believe they were “fighting for”?

27. Did ALL Southerners believe secession was a good idea?

28. What was the first state to secede?

29. Name some of the other states that followed.

30. Who was elected President of the Confederate States ofAmerica?

Chapter 8: 4:30 a.m. April 12, 1861

31. Where was the first “attack” of the Civil War?

32. Who attacked whom?

33. Who wins the first battle of the War?