# How well can you do on this 50 question Civil War quiz? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 29, 2017, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-can-you-do-on-this-50-question-civil-war-quiz/785533 "2017-04-29T22:53:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-can-you-do-on-this-50-question-civil-war-quiz/785533/61 "2017-05-02T15:11:54Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > It did that for me in Firefox. Worked reasonably well in Exploder. Only locked up once. 🙂 Thanks! 52/62. I’m a colonel, does that mean I have to move to Kentucky? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-can-you-do-on-this-50-question-civil-war-quiz/785533/62 "2017-05-02T15:13:15Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > My wife went to HS in Tennessee. They didn’t talk about the Civil War AT ALL in school. She’d probably be lucky to get 20 on this quiz. She was just never exposed to any of this history. She took it and got 36. And some she got right were not from southern schoolin’, but because her mom took her to places like the Shiloh battlefield, and from books she read that were set during the war. (And she caught the carpetbagger’s carpetbag that said “carpetbagger”. They weren’t even trying on that one, were they?) ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-can-you-do-on-this-50-question-civil-war-quiz/785533/63 "2017-05-02T23:55:44Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > For some reason, that quiz won’t work for me. I can see the page OK, but when I click an answer, nothing happens, and there’s nowhere to click to go to the next page. Failed on my #1 and #2 and #3 browser, but worked with #4 (Chrome). ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-can-you-do-on-this-50-question-civil-war-quiz/785533/64 "2017-05-03T00:02:20Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > I got 52 out of 62. I would have gotten 53 if I’d called U S Grant “The Butcher.” > > That’s part of The Lost Cause legend. Sainted Bobby Lee had higher casualty rates. > > Edited to add: Yes, there were Black Abolitionists. William Wells Brown was one who wrote an autobiography that helped later biographers looking for details about Joe, W B Travis’s slave & a survivor of he Alamo. William Wells Brown was his brother… That was another question I couldn’t answe, being out of touch with current civil-war culture. Black abolutionists were not visible in my 1960’s literature. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-can-you-do-on-this-50-question-civil-war-quiz/785533/65 "2017-05-03T00:40:17Z")
44, so, pretty good. Certainly for a non-American. A lot of ‘well, duh’ questions there, though. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-can-you-do-on-this-50-question-civil-war-quiz/785533/66 "2017-05-03T00:50:53Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Thanks! 52/62. I’m a colonel, does that mean I have to move to Kentucky? 😉 No, but you’re privileged to wear white panama suits with a string tie. 😛 55 out of 62. I owe it all to James M. McPherson’s _Battle Cry of Freedom_. Got maybe half of my guesses right. The only one I was surprised to get wrong was the one about venereal disease. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-can-you-do-on-this-50-question-civil-war-quiz/785533/67 "2017-05-03T03:01:17Z")
41/62. On one hand, it means I really don’t know anything about the Civil War. OTOH, it’s low enough to qualify me to be president. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-can-you-do-on-this-50-question-civil-war-quiz/785533/68 "2017-05-03T03:31:07Z")
44/62. Not too bad for a Canuck. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-can-you-do-on-this-50-question-civil-war-quiz/785533/69 "2017-05-04T09:52:51Z")
52, a popular result. I was rolling early but some obscure stuff later seemed a little contrived. Good brain exercise. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-can-you-do-on-this-50-question-civil-war-quiz/785533/70 "2017-05-04T11:23:36Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Did you all notice the carpetbagger question illustration had the word “carpetbagger” in it? I did but I didn’t need it. Equally silly was Walt Whitman’s frickin’ picture on the one where he was the answer, and I vacillated on the West Point/USMA one, wondering if it was a trick question. Oh, yeah: 49 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-can-you-do-on-this-50-question-civil-war-quiz/785533/71 "2017-05-04T19:25:04Z")
1. Not too bad when I only knew a handful of the answers. A few I was reminded by the answers, and a few I reasoned out given the choices, but mostri guessed between two or more answers. I will give them props for not falling into some of the traps that make these things easier, like having the same word repeated in two answers, giving away at least that one is right. And usng only three answers most of the time eliminated being able to ueethat to get the one correct answer. The carpetbagger was one I knew when reminded of the word. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-can-you-do-on-this-50-question-civil-war-quiz/785533/72 "2017-05-04T19:45:26Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I got bored with the quiz after 22 questions (seriously? One question per page, with two clicks and scrolling per question, and ads on every page?). Plus, an awful lot of the quiz was just silly trivia, not anything of substance (why does it even matter what play Lincoln was seeing when he got shot?). > > That said, the question about “primary, though not only, cause of the war” is wrong: Slavery was, for all intents and purposes, the only cause. States’ Rights were only relevant in so far as the South rejected the right of states to ban slavery. The only other cause any of the Confederate states listed at all was tarrifs, and that was so far down in their priorities as to be basically irrelevant. Yes, I know that some schools have taught that the South was fighting for states’ rights. Those schools were wrong, and we should not be afraid to point out that they were wrong. Yeah, most of the Declarations issued at the time of Secession had the protection of Slavery & White Supremacy at the top of the list. Down a bit farther was the Feds’ failure to enforce the Fugitive Slave laws–some free states didn’t like to cooperate with slave catchers. So much for States Rights… ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-can-you-do-on-this-50-question-civil-war-quiz/785533/73 "2017-05-05T03:42:54Z")
I got 52 - a Colonel, because I belong to a local Civil War roundtable where most of the topics get discussed. Missed mostly questions about the dates. And it was really stupid to design a quiz where you show a picture that is also the answer. Terrible web design - one question per page, ads on both the left and right borders, large fonts that force you to scroll up and down (so you see the ads even more). I ended up reducing the Zoom setting to 75% to eliminate that. At least they had a progress bar so you could see how much of the quiz remains. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-can-you-do-on-this-50-question-civil-war-quiz/785533/74 "2017-05-05T06:34:48Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > I did but I didn’t need it. Equally silly was Walt Whitman’s frickin’ picture on the one where he was the answer… I’ll admit that I had no idea that the picture was of Walt Whitman, rather than any of the three alternative literary gents. I only knew about Walt’s service as a nurse, thanks to a relative of mine who is a poetry buff, and practically worships WW – about whom and his life and doings, I hear a good deal from said relative. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-can-you-do-on-this-50-question-civil-war-quiz/785533/75 "2017-05-23T09:38:17Z")
1. Not bad for a Canadian, but I have always been interested in history, and have played a lot of Civil War themed games (US and English). ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-can-you-do-on-this-50-question-civil-war-quiz/785533/76 "2017-05-23T15:41:46Z")
36/62. Lousy. Although I have no interest in the Civil War. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-can-you-do-on-this-50-question-civil-war-quiz/785533/77 "2017-05-23T16:50:42Z")
44 with a _lot_ of guessing. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-can-you-do-on-this-50-question-civil-war-quiz/785533/78 "2017-05-23T19:01:53Z")
Jeebus, 38, but in my defense I wasn’t born in this country and was not fully aware of the depravity of this great nation of ours 😉 Really, I need to brush up on my Civil War History, so interesting, and with many lessons perhaps still relevant today. ---
**Author:** ![Whatever4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@Whatever4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whatever4)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-can-you-do-on-this-50-question-civil-war-quiz/785533/79 "2017-05-24T08:21:30Z")
1. Pretty sad since I lived within a stone’s throw of Manassas, Harper’s Ferry, and an early battle near Leesburg. White’s Ferry? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-can-you-do-on-this-50-question-civil-war-quiz/785533/80 "2017-05-24T13:00:45Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > Yeah, most of the Declarations issued at the time of Secession had the protection of Slavery & White Supremacy at the top of the list. Down a bit farther was the Feds’ failure to enforce the Fugitive Slave laws–some free states didn’t like to cooperate with slave catchers. So much for States Rights… Even if they had white supremacy involved, that inherently means that slavery was not the only cause. And, as you point out, there were other issues. Hell, I could argue that the 3/5s compromise was one of the reasons for the Civil War. Or the geography of For Sumter. I could blame a pride in one’s state that led to people choosing to fight for a cause they didn’t even agree with. Sure, none of these contributed too much, really, but they did contribute. There is never a single cause for anything. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-can-you-do-on-this-50-question-civil-war-quiz/785533.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-can-you-do-on-this-50-question-civil-war-quiz/785533.md?page=5)