Question

Which statement offers the BEST explanation for why General Sherman was more destructive on his march through South Carolina than he was in North Carolina?
A)
The Union was seeking revenge for the Battle of Fort Sumter.
B)
General Sherman failed to supervise his troops adequately while in South Carolina.
C)
South Carolina was viewed as a prime target because they were the first state to secede from the Union.
D)
General Sherman was seeking revenge for Union soldiers killed in South Carolina's prisoner of war camps.

Answer 1

Wow, these are all pretty badly wrong. The actual reason was that the South was unable to muster organized resistance to Sherman -- who had taken the highly unconventional step of operating well beyond his lines of supply -- until he'd advanced to North Carolina. So when Sherman got to NC instead of being able to lay waste to the land (which would require him to scatter his forces, making them vulnerable to an organized opposing army) he instead became involved in fighting Confederate armies under General Johnston. Before those struggles could be definitively concluded, both sides heard of Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House, and realized the war was over. Johnston then surrendered to Sherman, and further destruction was avoided.

Of all the choices, the least wrong is probably C.