Civil War Topics: Essential Questions

  1. What was the significance of the Battle of Bull Run (I and II) to the Civil War?
  2. How did the Dred Scott Decision lead to the Civil War?
  3. Why was Robert E. Lee the idol of the South?
  4. What if the South had won the Civil War?
  5. Why does racism exist?
  6. Did disease help win the war?
  7. Why was Jeb Stuart a bad soldier at the Battle of Gettysburg?
  8. How did reconstruction help bring the country together?
  9. Would General McClelland have done better as commander in chief than General Burnside?
  10. Why was the Underground Railroad successful?
  11. How important was the battle of the Monitor vs. the Merrimac?
  12. Why was US Grant a great leader?
  13. Why did the North win the battle at Antietam?
  14. How was it that David Farragut became the first admiral in the US Navy?
  15. How did Walt Whitman relate to the war?
  16. How did Stonewall Jackson get his name?
  17. What are two misconceptions about Abolitionists?
  18. What was slavery like?