2. Why was the concept of “unconditional surrender” so important?

3. What was daily life like for slaves before the Civil War?

4. What do you think about slavery? Take a position.

5. Was there a possibility for the North and South to reach a compromise? Why or why not?

6. What events contributed to the conflict between the North and South?

7. How were people affected by the war?

8. Was there anything done to preserve the Union? What was it?

9. What is popular sovereignty? What does it mean? What was it’s significance during the Civil War? Today?

10. What were some of the causes of the Civil War?

11. Describe the economic situation of the North versus the South.

12. How did the Underground Railroad work?

13. What is the significance of the Mason- Dixon Line?

14. What is the significance of the Ohio River in the Underground Railroad? How would this affect slaves trying to escape to the North?

15. Was the Civil War inevitable?

16. Can battles that separate the nation politically return and divide the country again?

17. Compare and contrast Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis as presidents during wartime.

18. Besides slavery, what other factors contributed to the war’s beginning?

19. Why did it take over 200 years for slavery to become an issue in the United States?

20. Why is the Civil War regarded as the first modern war? What new technologies were introduced?

21. What are traits of a good general during the war? What makes a good leader?

22. Who were the abolitionists? What was their significance?

23. In which ways did women contribute to the war effort?

24. What are conscientious objectors? Where there any during the Civil War?

25. How did supplies reach the troops during the Civil War?

26. What was the significance of the fall of Richmond?

27. What does ‘reconstruction’ mean?

28. What are ‘Jim Crow Laws’ and what are their significance?

29. Why is it important to remember wars of the past?