Monthly Archives: March 2018

Meeting of April 24, 2018

Tom Roza presents the DVD “History Channel/Civil War Journal: West Point Classmates – Civil War Enemies”

The Presentation: “Civil War Journal” is The History Channel’s series that chronicles the happenings of the American Civil War through the memoirs of those who took place in it.

The episode entitled “West Point Classmates – Civil War Enemies” focuses on the story of a special fraternity of men who attended the US Military Academy at West Point in the years leading up to the start of the Civil War. The program features such Civil War notables as: Robert E Lee, Ulysses Grant, Stonewall Jackson, William Sherman, Jefferson Davis, and George Pickett among others some of whom while cadets at West Point, became close friends and comrades, but often ended up facing each other on the battlefield.

This 43-minute program effectively communicates how West Point training influenced the eventual outcome of the war and how the camaraderie and relationships that were fostered at West Point in the end were instrumental in how the war ended.

The Presenter: Tom Roza has been a student of history in general for the past 60+ years and became an avid historian of the American Civil War beginning in 1961 during the 100 year Centennial of that great conflict. Tom’s professional career spanned 48 years in the field of Information Technology until he retired from in 2013.

During over five decades of studying the Civil War, Tom’s main interest has primarily focused on the human interest aspects of the people involved and affected by that event. Tom’s recently published novel, “Windows to the Past – A Virginian’s Experience in the Civil War” effectively examines and portrays the impact on everyday people living in the South of the political, social, and economic factors that first led to secession, then Civil War.

Tom has been a member of the South Bay Civil War Roundtable organization since 2008 and is currently an officer and Secretary for that organization. Tom has made numerous presentations to both his Roundtable organization and other organizations on topics such as: Confederate Cavalry Generals Nathan Bedford Forrest and Jeb Stuart, Union Cavalry General John Buford, and Union Infantry Generals Winfield Scott and Robert Gould Shaw.

Meeting Minutes April 2018

Quiz for April 24, 2018

Civil War Quiz: What Do You Know About the Federal Government during the Civil War?

Q#1 – Who was President Lincoln’s first Vice President?

Q#2 – Who were President Lincoln’s two Attorneys General?

Q#3 – Why was Simon Cameron, Lincoln’s first Secretary of War, forced to resign early in 1862?

Q#4 – Salmon P. Chase, who was Lincoln’s first Secretary of Treasury, was named and approved to what position in December, 1864?

Q#5 – For Lincoln’s first presidential inauguration on March 4, 1861, who administered the oath of office?

Q#6 – Several major federal agencies were established during Lincoln’s presidency. Three of them were: the Department of Agriculture, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, and the Freedmen’s Bureau. What were the names of the other two?

Q#7 – Shortly after taking office in 1861, President Lincoln took the drastic action of suspending the right of habeas corpus in Maryland. What justification did Lincoln use for this action?

Q#8 – The Enrollment Act was legislation passed by the United States Congress and enacted on March 3, 1863. By what other name was this legislation known?

Q#9 – What authority was provided to the Federal Government by the Confiscation Act of 1862?

Q#10 – The Emancipation Proclamation, which went into effect on January 1, 1863, applied in the eleven states that were still in rebellion in 1863. What four states, where nearly 500,000 slaves existed, were not covered?

Q#11 – Lincoln vetoed only four bills passed by Congress during his Presidency; the only important one was the Wade-Davis Bill of 1864, which was proposed for the Reconstruction of the South written by two Radical Republican Senators. Why did Lincoln veto this bill?

Q#12 – What was the “Ten Percent Plan”, known formally as the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction Act, that was a proclamation issued on December 8, 1863, by President Lincoln?

Q#13 – In 1861, Lincoln signed the Revenue Act of 1861, creating the first federal income tax. What was the initial tax percentage value and what was the minimum income amount?

Q#14 – In June 1864, Lincoln approved the Yosemite Grant enacted by Congress. What was the purpose of this legislation?

Q#15 – In October 1862, France, which had established a puppet state under the rule of Maximilian I of Mexico, proposed an armistice and joint mediation of the American Civil War by France, Britain, and Russia. What was the US Government’s response?