Reading Comprehension Skills and Strategies - Level 7

Na m e : ___ Date: _

Directions: The text below is supplemented by a diagram. Use both to answer the questions.

territories

(not yet states)

Confederate

states

Rest of the

states

1861

VA

NC

SC

FL

MS AL GA

TN

AR

LA

TX

1. Name the first state to secede from the Union in 1860. ___


2. Was North Carolina a Confederate state in 1861? _____


3. What three Confederate states were on the border with the North at the time?

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4. How many states were in the Confederacy in 1861? ___


5. Why did the states marked as Confederate withdraw from the Union? ___

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Challenge! Name three current states that were not yet part of the U.S. in 1860.

____________________________ ___________________________ ____________________________

In 1861 there were 33 states. When six southern states organized their own government in
February 1861, they took the name Confederate States of America. South Carolina was the first
to secede late in 1860. Five others followed early in 1861. By spring, eleven states made up the
Confederacy. The main reason for the secession was dispute over the economics of and views
about slavery.