The Civil War Had Many Important Events. Name One: Civics Question 93

Name one event. The Emancipation Proclamation is the one most applicants already know.

Question 93 says the Civil War had many important events and asks you to name one. Accepted answers include the Battle of Fort Sumter, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Battle of Vicksburg, the Battle of Gettysburg, the Battle of Antietam, Sherman’s March, the surrender at Appomattox, and Lincoln’s assassination.

Events on the Official List

The Battle of Fort Sumter started the war. Confederate forces fired on a United States fort in the harbor at Charleston, South Carolina, in April 1861.

The Emancipation Proclamation was Abraham Lincoln’s order freeing enslaved people in the Confederate states. It took effect on January 1, 1863.

The Battle of Vicksburg was a Union victory in 1863. It gave the Union control of the Mississippi River and cut the Confederacy in two.

The Battle of Gettysburg, also in 1863, turned back the Confederate invasion of the North and is the war’s most famous battle.

The Battle of Antietam, sometimes called Sharpsburg, was the single bloodiest day of the war, in 1862.

Sherman’s March cut a path through Georgia to the sea in 1864.

The surrender at Appomattox in April 1865 ended the fighting.

Lincoln was assassinated days later, also in April 1865, and naming that counts as well.

Why the Officer Asks This

The war lasted four years, and these moments mark what changed during it. One event shows how the fighting began, one shows what the war became about, and the rest show how the Union won it and how it ended.

The Emancipation Proclamation also has its own question further down the list, question 95, which asks what it did. The same fact answers both questions.

How to Remember One Event

Line three of them up in order and give each one a single word: start, order, river.

Fort Sumter is the start. The Emancipation Proclamation is the order Lincoln signed. Vicksburg is the river, because that battle gave the Union the Mississippi.

Start, order, river. Three words, three events, in the order they happened, since Fort Sumter came in 1861 and the other two came in 1863. If Gettysburg or Appomattox is the name that comes to you first, say that instead. Both are on the list.

If you rehearse only one, rehearse the Emancipation Proclamation. It appears twice on the test, here and again in question 95.

What to Say on Test Day

Say “the Emancipation Proclamation.” One event, then stop.

“Fort Sumter” and “Gettysburg” are shorter to pronounce and are equally correct. Pick whichever one you can say cleanly, and do not explain what happened in it.