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5th grade · Social Studies · Unit 7 of 10

The Civil War

Slavery, secession and war

What your child practices

How the conflict over slavery led to secession and war, Lincoln's leadership, key events and people from Fort Sumter to Appomattox, and how enslaved people helped win their own freedom.

Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 5.H2.1; 5.SP4.1 · slavery, the causes of the Civil War and its key events

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Fights over slavery grew: “Bleeding Kansas” and the Dred Scott decision (1857).
  2. Lincoln's election in 1860 led Southern states to secede.
  3. The Union's Anaconda Plan blockaded ports and the Mississippi; Sherman's March (1864) destroyed Southern resources.

Example: Whose election in 1860 led Southern states to secede? He opposed slavery spreading into new territories. He became the 16th president. Answer: Abraham Lincoln

The Civil War in Arizona

In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 7 of 10 in 5th grade Social Studies, after Factories & Reformers and before Reconstruction.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Arizona Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which advantage did the South have early in the war?

    • fighting on home ground with skilled generals
    • more railroads
    • more factories
    • a larger navy

  2. Question 2

    Ulysses S. Grant led the Union to victory at…

    • the Alamo in 1836
    • Vicksburg in 1863
    • Yorktown in 1781
    • Fort Sumter in 1861

  3. Question 3

    In the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln described the war as a test of whether a nation…

    • "Conceived in liberty" and dedicated to equality could survive
    • Could build railroads
    • Could win gold
    • Could rule Europe

  4. Question 4

    About how many Black soldiers served in the Union army and navy?

    • About 20 million
    • None
    • About 200,000
    • About 200

  5. Question 5

    "Bleeding Kansas" refers to…

    • A flood
    • A Civil War hospital
    • Violence between proslavery and antislavery settlers
    • A gold rush

  6. Question 6

    The Emancipation Proclamation (1863) declared…

    • The war over
    • Women could vote
    • Slavery legal in the North
    • Enslaved people in Confederate-held areas free

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