Hi All,
Okay! I just took the DANTES Civil War exam.
To me, this exam seemed a little easier than Rise & Fall of the Soviet Union. There didn't seem to be as much 'depth' to the questions as there was on the Soviet Union exam.
There were 112 questions.
The DSST Factsheet says that this exam is, "100% Knowledge of Basic Facts and Terms", and this held true in my experience today. The more "facts and terms" you know going into this exam, the more questions you will be able to answer. It's as simple as that!
I think Instantcert is EXCELLENT preparation for this exam. Any additional study you do, using wikipedia.com and other resources, will likely gain you some valuable extra points. But the majority of the questions are covered by Instantcert.
Things to know:
(based on MY version of the exam)
Know all the battles mentioned in the factsheet.
(There are lots of other battles you could study, but I don't recall ANY questions relating to battles not mentioned in the factsheet.)
For each battle, you'll need to know:
- Where
- When (roughly)
- Commanders
- Outcome (win/lose/draw AND strategic win/loss).
- Significance in the big scheme of things.
Know all the generals mentioned in the factsheet:
- Which general replaced which (Where, when, and why).
- Which general defeated which.
- Which general was under-aggressive.
- Which general(s) waged Total War.
Also know:
- Copperheads (where and who)
- Carpetbagger and Scalawags.
- Wirz (Andersonville POW Camp, Georgia)
- Clara Barton
- Role of Custer at Appomattox Station (he was quite YOUNG at the time)
- Total estimated casualties in the Civil War
- Know which states ratified the 14th Amendment (in what order).
- Know bloodiest single day.
- Know last confederate victory.
- Know which key rivers are in the Eastern Theater, and which are in the Western Theater.
- Know the various plans for reconstruction (Johnson, Lincoln, Congress, Radical Republicans, Peace Democrats etc.).
- Know the Rules of Presidential Succession = [President -> VP -> Speaker of the House -> Senate Pro Tem]
(It's not in Instantcert or the Factsheet, but you never know when this knowledge might come in handy! Right?)
Pretty much everything listed in the Factsheet is covered:
(which is pretty much everything covered by Instantcert.)
And Finally:
Review everything mentioned by earlier posters in this, and other threads. Their feedback was invaluable to me.
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I think I may have overstudied for this exam. But it's better to be safe than sorry!
I'll let you know when my score arrives.
Fingers Crossed,
Snazzlefrag