Monthly Archives: October 2020

Meeting of October 27, 2020

Tom Roza on “The Presidential Election of 1864”

South Bay Civil War Roundtable Secretary Tom Roza provides an intriguing and detailed examination of the critically important and impactful presidential election of 1864.

Throughout its history as a democracy, the electing of a President has become one of the most important decisions Americans make as citizens. We not only select a political leader to guide our country through its legislative process, but also a person who is the Commander in Chief of our military and who in partnership with Congress, is responsible for the security of our nation.

Over the 230 years as a country, some presidential elections have become more significant than others. In his nearly 60 years of being a student of the American Civil War and the history of our country, Tom has concluded that the presidential election of 1864 has become the most critically important one. A civil war continued to rage and the destiny and future of our country was at stake as at no other time before or since.

Given that 2020 is a Presidential election year, this presentation on another very important election is particularly appropriate and timely.

Tom Roza has been a student of history for over 60 years. His interest in history in general and the Civil War in particular began with his elementary education in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and has evolved ever since. As an officer and the Secretary of the South Bay Civil War Roundtable, Tom has made numerous presentations on the topic of the Civil War to both his Roundtable organization and other historical organizations in the Bay Area. Tom is also a published author of the book entitled Windows to the Past: A Virginian’s Experience in the Civil War that has been accepted by the Library of Congress into its Catalog; Tom is currently working on a sequel entitled Lost Cause – Justice Found.

Meeting Minutes October 2020

Quiz for October 27, 2020

Civil War Quiz: What Do You Know About The South’s Reasons For Secession?

Q#1 – During the election in 1860, Abraham Lincoln ran on a message of leaving slavery to where it currently existed, which should have been viewed by Southerners in a positive way. What were the two reasons Southerners still did not vote for Lincoln?

Q#2 – What was the legal basis by which Southern states believed that they had the right to secede from the United States?

Q#3 – What was the complaint by Southern states regarding the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850?

Q#4 – There were some inconsistencies among the Southern states regarding the reasons they included in their individual ordinances of secession. Three states—Texas, Alabama, and Virginia—specifically mentioned one obvious condition; the rest made no mention it; what was the condition?

Q#5 – What was the prevailing belief among the Southern states that slaveholding was a constitutional right and that the movement to abolish slavery and that movement’s influence over the politics of the northern states justified secession?

Q#6 – In the Texas Ordinance of Secession there was condition unique to that state that did not exist in the other Southern states, which Texas believed was another reason that justified secession. What was that condition?

Q#7 – The Supreme Court 1857 Dred Scott decision in effect declared unconstitutional one critical requirement of the 1820 Missouri compromise that the Federal government refused to honor. What was that requirement that was declared unconstitutional?

Q#8 – What was the adverse political impact regarding prohibiting slavery in the new western territories that was another reason justifying secession by the Southern states?

Q#9 – What was a main reason that the Southern states thought that if their secession from the Union led to civil war, France and Britain would intervene on their behalf?

Q#10 – There was a last ditch effort to end the secession crisis through a Constitutional amendment. What was the effort and its result?

Q#11 – How did the “Homestead Act” of 1860 serve as another reason for Southern states to secede from the Union?

Q#12 – How did the Pacific Railway Bill of 1860 provide additional justification for the South to secede from the Union?

Q#13 – Why were the implementation of tariffs one of the root causes that Southerners used to justify secession?

Q#14 – Why was the effort to create a system of banks that would be chartered and regulated by the federal government a reason Southern states believed helped to justify secession?

Q#15 – While most states in the Confederacy simply passed Ordinances of Secession, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia included what other justifications in their ordinances?