Chapter Chronology

Quiz for Analyzing Historical Evidence: Home and Country

Choose the best answer to each question.

Question

1. Christian Marion Epperly and Mary Epperly came from which segment of society in the nineteenth-century South?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is C. The Epperlys were upcountry yeomen who hailed from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Before the war, they were independent and self-sufficient farmers working their own patch of land with their children. They owned no slaves.
Incorrect. The correct answer is C. The Epperlys were upcountry yeomen who hailed from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Before the war, they were independent and self-sufficient farmers working their own patch of land with their children. They owned no slaves.

Question

2. In his May 1862 letter from Chickahominy Creek, Virginia, Marion Epperly writes to his wife, “I hope and pray this awful war will soon come to a close some way or other[,] any way to get pease in the world wonst more[;] it seems to me I had drather be at home and live on bred and water than to have this war hanging over us but I pray god pease will soon be made.” The sentiment he expresses here suggests that Epperly was

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is D. As early as 1862, Marion Epperly is critical of the Confederacy and wishing for an end to the war. This quote shows that he has no personal or emotional investment in the war’s goals or outcome; he just wants it to be over.
Incorrect. The correct answer is D. As early as 1862, Marion Epperly is critical of the Confederacy and wishing for an end to the war. This quote shows that he has no personal or emotional investment in the war’s goals or outcome; he just wants it to be over.

Question

3. The Epperlys’ letters from 1862 to 1864 provide evidence to support which of the following historical arguments?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is A. Both Marion and Mary Epperly wrote in their letters about their loyalty to each other and their belief that family took precedence over politics. They also referred numerous times to the vast number of Confederate soldiers who deserted their posts and returned home, suggesting that many Confederate fighters ultimately chose family over country. By 1864, the rate of desertion among Confederate soldiers was more than 30 percent.
Incorrect. The correct answer is A. Both Marion and Mary Epperly wrote in their letters about their loyalty to each other and their belief that family took precedence over politics. They also referred numerous times to the vast number of Confederate soldiers who deserted their posts and returned home, suggesting that many Confederate fighters ultimately chose family over country. By 1864, the rate of desertion among Confederate soldiers was more than 30 percent.

Question

4. In August 1863, Mary Epperly wrote to her husband about the deserters she has seen returning to their homes: “I wish they would all runaway and these head men would be oblige to fight it out but as long as they can stay at home and speculate off the poor soulders they don’t care how long the war lasts.” Which of the following restates Mary Epperly’s argument?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is C. Mary Ebberly argued that the Civil War started to defend rich southerners’ cause, but that poor southerners were forced to bear the brunt of the battle. She suggested that only after the rich men had no choice but to fight themselves would they agree to end the war.
Incorrect. The correct answer is C. Mary Ebberly argued that the Civil War started to defend rich southerners’ cause, but that poor southerners were forced to bear the brunt of the battle. She suggested that only after the rich men had no choice but to fight themselves would they agree to end the war.

Question

5. Which of their social categories that the Epperlys belonged to was the critical influence in shaping their views on the Confederacy, the Civil War, and the Union as expressed in these letters?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is B. Their status as upcountry yeomen was critically important in shaping the Ebberlys’ views in these letters. Because they did not own slaves and their upcountry location limited their exposure to the culture of plantation slavery, the Ebberlys had little or no investment in protecting the institution of slavery. Their social and geographic locations also limited their commitment to the Confederacy.
Incorrect. The correct answer is B. Their status as upcountry yeomen was critically important in shaping the Ebberlys’ views in these letters. Because they did not own slaves and their upcountry location limited their exposure to the culture of plantation slavery, the Ebberlys had little or no investment in protecting the institution of slavery. Their social and geographic locations also limited their commitment to the Confederacy.