henretta8e

Quiz for American Voices: Gender, Class, and Sexual Terror in the Invaded South

Question

1. Which of the following factors was the most likely influence on General Milroy’s decision to allow Cornelia Peake McDonald to remain in her Virginia home?

His commitment to the importance of private property

His middle-class notions about mothers and children

Her husband’s class and political status

Her sympathies for the Union’s cause

Correct. The answer is b. The most likely influence on General Milroy’s decision to allow Cornelia Peake McDonald to remain in her home were his middle-class notions about motherhood and the importance of children. It was only when she begged him to allow her to keep the house as a shelter for her sick children that he relented to her request.

Incorrect. The answer is b. The most likely influence on General Milroy’s decision to allow Cornelia Peake McDonald to remain in her home were his middle-class notions about motherhood and the importance of children. It was only when she begged him to allow her to keep the house as a shelter for her sick children that he relented to her request.

Question

2. Which of the following statements can be supported with evidence gleaned from these firsthand accounts of the Civil War?

While Confederate soldiers committed brutal actions on civilians, Union soldiers did not.

Union soldiers fought Confederate soldiers without restraint but protected southern women.

Confederate attacks on enslaved women and children were a daily occurrence in the South.

Women and children in the South were vulnerable to brutal acts committed by soldiers.

Correct. The answer is d. These firsthand accounts reveal that, although middle-class and white women probably fared better than poor white and African American women, all women and children in the South were vulnerable to brutal acts committed by soldiers on both sides of the conflict.

Incorrect. The answer is d. These firsthand accounts reveal that, although middle-class and white women probably fared better than poor white and African American women, all women and children in the South were vulnerable to brutal acts committed by soldiers on both sides of the conflict.

Question

3. Which of the following sources most likely includes inaccuracies that reflect the biases of its author?

Cornelia Peake McDonald’s journal

Judith White Brockenbrough McGuire’s diary

Anna Maria Green’s diary

Daniel Heyward Trezevant’s report

Correct. The answer is d. The three diaries are simple reports of these women’s feelings and experiences, recorded only for themselves, and not intended to influence or reinforce others’ opinions or conclusions. McDonald’s and McGuire’s diaries depict instances of Union soldiers’ generosity, which, as Confederates, they would have been unlikely to manufacture. Trezevant’s report might well be accurate, but because he was a southerner reporting Union brutality, and because it was a document likely to have been created for the consumption of others, it is a less trustworthy source.

Incorrect. The answer is d. The three diaries are simple reports of these women’s feelings and experiences, recorded only for themselves, and not intended to influence or reinforce others’ opinions or conclusions. McDonald’s and McGuire’s diaries depict instances of Union soldiers’ generosity, which, as Confederates, they would have been unlikely to manufacture. Trezevant’s report might well be accurate, but because he was a southerner reporting Union brutality, and because it was a document likely to have been created for the consumption of others, it is a less trustworthy source.

Question

4. Which is the most likely reason why Confederate soldiers would have brutalized the African American women and children on the Union-run plantations, as described in Samuel Nasmith’s report?

To destroy the Union’s ability to benefit from southern cotton plantations

So that the Union would expend resources protecting slaves rather than fighting Confederates

To express their disregard for blacks’ humanity and create widespread terror in the South

To punish those African Americans who left their masters and joined the Union Army

Correct. The answer is c. It is most likely that Confederate soldiers brutalized African American women and children on the Union-run plantations in order to express their disregard for their humanity and to create even more widespread fear and terror among the enslaved African Americans in the South.

Incorrect. The answer is c. It is most likely that Confederate soldiers brutalized African American women and children on the Union-run plantations in order to express their disregard for their humanity and to create even more widespread fear and terror among the enslaved African Americans in the South.

Question

5. General Sherman’s troops committed the acts described in these accounts in order to

subdue and demoralize a hostile people and make all southerners feel the hard hand of war.

celebrate the fact that Lincoln had won the election of 1864 and the coming end of the war.

demonstrate to the freed slaves that they would still be under the control of the Union troops.

express the rage and violent impulses they had been withholding since the war’s start.

Correct. The answer is a. Sherman’s strategy with his march to the sea was to destroy white southerners’ will to continue the war.

Incorrect. The answer is a. Sherman’s strategy with his march to the sea was to destroy white southerners’ will to continue the war.