Confederate History Month is a controversial observance in April that commemorates and pays tribute to the history and legacy of the Confederate States of America and its role in the American Civil War. While many southern states officially commemorate it, opponents argue it glorifies a racist past. Here are 79 riddles that touch on little known facts and trivia about Confederate History Month to challenge your knowledge.
History
1. I’m a Southern state that first declared April as Confederate History Month in 1969. What am I?
Answer: Virginia
2. I’m a controversial Republican governor of Virginia who brought Confederate History Month back in 2010 after it had been discontinued for 8 years by my predecessors. Who am I?
Answer: Bob McDonnell
3. I’m a Southern general and top Confederate military leader who was born in January and has a U.S. military base named after him. Who am I?
Answer: Robert E. Lee
4. I’m a Confederate colonel known as the “Wizard of the Saddle” for my skilled cavalry tactics during the Civil War. Who am I?
Answer: Nathan Bedford Forrest
5. I’m an April holiday celebrated by Confederate states that honors their history and fallen soldiers. What am I?
Answer: Confederate Memorial Day
Confederate Leaders
6. My last name is the same as the capital of the Confederacy. I was the President of the Confederate States. Who am I?
Answer: Jefferson Davis
7. I commanded the Army of Northern Virginia and surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox. Who am I?
Answer: Robert E. Lee
8. I was a top Confederate general known as “Stonewall” for my stand at First Bull Run. Who am I?
Answer: Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson
9. I served as the Vice President of the Confederate States under Jefferson Davis. Who am I?
Answer: Alexander Stephens
10. I was a Confederate general and KKK Grand Wizard after the Civil War. Who am I?
Answer: Nathan Bedford Forrest
Battles
11. I’m an 1861 Virginia battle won by the Confederacy that saw the first major clashes of the Civil War. What battle am I?
Answer: First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas)
12. I’m an 1862 Maryland battle considered the bloodiest one-day clash of the Civil War with over 22,000 casualties. What battle am I?
Answer: Battle of Antietam
13. I’m an 1863 Pennsylvania battle and major Confederate defeat that marked a turning point in the Civil War. What battle am I?
Answer: Battle of Gettysburg
14. I’m a 1864 Georgia battle considered a decisive and costly Confederate defeat against Sherman’s forces. What battle am I?
Answer: Battle of Atlanta
15. I’m a 1865 North Carolina battle where Joseph E. Johnston’s Confederate army surrendered to Sherman. What battle am I?
Answer: Battle of Bentonville
States
16. I’m a Southern state that was the first to secede from the Union in 1860 before the Civil War. What state am I?
Answer: South Carolina
17. I’m a Southern state where the capital of the Confederacy was located in Richmond. What state am I?
Answer: Virginia
18. I’m a Southern state where the first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter. What state am I?
Answer: South Carolina
19. I’m a Southern state where Jefferson Davis was captured after the Civil War ended. What state am I?
Answer: Georgia
20. I’m a Southern state where William T. Sherman’s March to the Sea culminated in the capture of Savannah. What state am I?
Answer: Georgia
Places
21. I’m the white-columned mansion where Jefferson Davis lived in Richmond, Virginia during the Civil War. What historic place am I?
Answer: The White House of the Confederacy
22. I’m the South Carolina fort where Confederate troops fired the first shots of the Civil War in 1861. What place am I?
Answer: Fort Sumter
23. I’m the Virginia courthouse where Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant in 1865. What place am I?
Answer: Appomattox Court House
24. I’m the Georgia city known as the “cradle of the Confederacy” where the secession convention was held in 1861. What city am I?
Answer: Milledgeville
25. I’m the Alabama city that served as the first capital of the Confederacy in 1861. What city am I?
Answer: Montgomery
Events
26. I’m the December 1860 political convention where Southern states announced their secession. What event am I?
Answer: South Carolina Secession Convention
27. I’m the April 1861 event where Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina. What event am I?
Answer: Battle of Fort Sumter
28. I’m the February 1865 political meeting where Jefferson Davis was named President of the Confederacy. What event am I?
Answer: Montgomery Convention
29. I’m the April 1865 event where Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House. What event am I?
Answer: Surrender at Appomattox Court House
30. I’m the May 1865 event marking the last major Confederate surrender of the Civil War. What event am I?
Answer: Surrender at Bennett Place
Military
31. I’m the navy of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. What am I called?
Answer: Confederate States Navy
32. I’m the flag with 13 stars in a circle on a blue cross that represented the Confederate States. What flag am I?
Answer: Confederate Battle Flag
33. I’m the nickname given to the Army of Northern Virginia led by Robert E. Lee. What nickname am I?
Answer: Lee’s Army
34. I’m the cavalry branch of the Confederate States Army known for their effectiveness. Who am I?
Answer: Confederate Cavalry
35. I’m the rifle used extensively by Confederate troops during the Civil War. What am I?
Answer: Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle
Politics
36. I’m the political party that dominated the Southern states during the Civil War era. What party am I?
Answer: Democratic Party
37. I’m the February 1861 political event establishing the Confederate States of America. What event am I?
Answer: Montgomery Convention
38. I’m the number of states that originally formed the Confederacy. How many states am I?
Answer: Seven (South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas)
39. I’m the number of additional states that joined the Confederacy later on. How many more states?
Answer: Four (Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina)
40. I’m the political process where Southern states withdrew from the United States. What process am I?
Answer: Secession
Economy
41. I’m the pre-Civil War Southern economic system relying on slave labor for planting and harvest. What system am I?
Answer: Plantation economy
42. I’m the major Confederate export crop harvested by enslaved Africans before the Civil War. What crop am I?
Answer: Cotton
43. I’m the Southern financier depicted on the $500 Confederate bill. Who am I?
Answer: John C. Calhoun
44. I’m the Southern seaport city and major hub for exporting cotton internationally. What city am I?
Answer: New Orleans
45. I’m the Southern city where enslaved Africans would debark upon arriving in America. What city am I?
Answer: Charleston
Slavery
46. I’m the brutal overseer depicted whipping an enslaved person in the infamous 1863 photo called The Scourged Back. Who am I?
Answer: Captain McPherson
47. I’m the number of Africans forcibly brought to America during the transatlantic slave trade. What number am I?
Answer: Over 12 million
48. I’m the two-month middle passage voyage bringing captured Africans to slavery in America. What am I called?
Answer: The Middle Passage
49. I’m the 1848 autobiography about my escape from slavery to freedom. What book am I?
Answer: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
50. I’m the famous Underground Railroad conductor who made 19 secret trips and freed over 300 slaves. Who am I?
Answer: Harriet Tubman
Legacies
51. I’m the domestic terror group founded by Confederate veterans after the Civil War. Who are we?
Answer: Ku Klux Klan (KKK)
52. I’m the Jim Crow laws enacted after Reconstruction mandating racial segregation. What am I?
Answer: Jim Crow laws
53. I’m the Supreme Court case that deemed “separate but equal” constitutional. What case am I?
Answer: Plessy v. Ferguson
54. I’m the Civil Rights era Supreme Court case that overturned Plessy v. Ferguson. What case am I?
Answer: Brown v. Board of Education
55. I’m the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. What Act am I?
Answer: Civil Rights Act of 1964
Controversies
56. I’m the controversial Confederate symbol removed from the Mississippi state flag in 2020 after 126 years. What am I?
Answer: Confederate battle emblem
57. I’m the 2017 violent clash between white nationalists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia over Confederate statues. What am I called?
Answer: Unite the Right rally
58. I’m the historic 2015 mass shooting by a white supremacist at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina. What church am I?
Answer: Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church
59. I’m the Richmond, Virginia avenue with famous Confederate statues that have been controversial and targeted by protesters. What avenue am I?
Answer: Monument Avenue
60. I’m the number of Confederate monuments removed from public places since George Floyd’s death in 2020. What’s the number?
Answer: Over 168 and counting
Dates
61. In what year was the Confederate States of America established?
Answer: 1861
62. In what year did the Civil War begin with shots fired at Fort Sumter?
Answer: 1861
63. In what year did Robert E. Lee surrender to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox?
Answer: 1865
64. In what year were the first Jim Crow laws enacted after Reconstruction?
Answer: 1876
65. In what year was the NAACP founded to advance justice for African Americans?
Answer: 1909
Literature
66. I’m the famous 1936 novel about the pre-Civil War South by Margaret Mitchell. What novel am I?
Answer: Gone with the Wind
67. I’m the Southern writer famous for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Who am I?
Answer: Mark Twain
68. I’m the Southern Gothic writer who depicted slavery in Beloved. Who am I?
Answer: Toni Morrison
69. I’m the African American abolitionist famous for slave narratives. Who am I?
Answer: Frederick Douglass
70. I’m the novel about a slave revolt by Herbert Aptheker. What book am I?
Answer: Nat Turner’s Slave Rebellion
Culture
71. I’m a style of folk music developed by enslaved Africans featuring banjos and rhythmic chants. What am I?
Answer: Negro spirituals
72. I’m a secret numeric code used in spirituals to communicate escape plans. What was I called?
Answer: Negro railroad
73. I’m a style of Southern regional cooking influenced by African, French and Native American traditions. What cuisine am I?
Answer: Southern cuisine
74. I’m a cornmeal cake originally cooked by enslaved Africans in the rural South. What am I?
Answer: Hoe cake
75. I’m a Underground Railroad house with hidden rooms and tunnels used by Harriet Tubman. What place am I?
Answer: The Thompson Farm
Photos
76. I’m an iconic Civil War-era photo of a slave with horrific scars from being whipped. What photo am I?
Answer: The Scourged Back
77. I’m the infamous 1915 silent film praised by the KKK for depicting racism. What film am I?
Answer: The Birth of a Nation
78. I’m the graphic 1963 photo showing police dogs attacking black protesters in Birmingham. What am I called?
Answer: Birmingham Civil Rights Movement
79. I’m the 2015 viral photo showing Bree Newsome removing the Confederate flag from the South Carolina Capitol. What act am I?
Answer: Bree Newsome taking down the Confederate flag
Conclusion
Confederate History Month remains a controversial topic to this day. While supporters claim it honors Southern heritage and sacrifice, critics argue it glorifies a racist legacy of slavery. These thought-provoking riddles tackle little known facts, trivia and ironies surrounding this complex history in hopes of spurring constructive dialog on the month’s significance. Some see it as a vital way of remembering Southern identity and veterans. Others argue it whitewashes the cruelty of bondage and the ideology of white supremacy. Ongoing debates continue around Confederacy symbols in public spaces, education about Civil War history, and how America should memorialize figures who fought to preserve slavery. Engaging with this sensitive past through riddles provides a creative lens for appreciating multiple viewpoints. Perhaps open-minded learning and truth-telling can overcome prejudice to build a just society.
