Causes and Effects of the Civil War is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on the causes and effects of the Civil War, aligned to C3 Framework indicator D2.His.14.3-5. It prints 3 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.
Set 14 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.
Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.
Causes and Effects of the Civil War
D2.His.14.3-5
NameDate
Sort each one: was it a cause of the Civil War or an effect of it?
1.Sort each one: Cause or Effect?
Sort: Abolitionists in the North demanding an end to slavery, Arguments over whether slavery could spread into the western territories, Much of the South's farmland, railroads and cities lay in ruins, About four million people were freed from slavery
CauseEffect
2.Sort each one: Cause or Effect?
Sort: Southern states seceded and formed the Confederacy to protect slavery, A Southern economy that depended on the labor of enslaved people, The Union was preserved, and the Southern states rejoined it, The national government became stronger than it had been before the war
CauseEffect
3.Sort each one: Cause or Effect?
Sort: The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 required Northerners to help return people who escaped slavery, Abraham Lincoln, who opposed the spread of slavery, was elected president in 1860, More than 600,000 soldiers died, The 14th Amendment made people who had been enslaved into citizens
CauseEffect
LessonPrint · D2.His.14.3-5 · Set 14 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Causes and Effects of the Civil War
Set 14. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. Abolitionists in the North demanding an end to slavery — Cause 2. About four million people were freed from slavery — Effect 3. Arguments over whether slavery could spread into the western territories — Cause 4. Much of the South's farmland, railroads and cities lay in ruins — Effect
2.1. A Southern economy that depended on the labor of enslaved people — Cause 2. Southern states seceded and formed the Confederacy to protect slavery — Cause 3. The national government became stronger than it had been before the war — Effect 4. The Union was preserved, and the Southern states rejoined it — Effect
3.1. Abraham Lincoln, who opposed the spread of slavery, was elected president in 1860 — Cause 2. More than 600,000 soldiers died — Effect 3. The 14th Amendment made people who had been enslaved into citizens — Effect 4. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 required Northerners to help return people who escaped slavery — Cause
Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D2.His.14.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.