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 5 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

One paper per student

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

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: A Southern economy that depended on the labor of enslaved people, The Dred Scott decision of 1857 said Congress could not ban slavery in the territories, About four million people were freed from slavery, The Union was preserved, and the Southern states rejoined it

CauseEffect

2.Sort each one: Cause or Effect?

Sort: The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 required Northerners to help return people who escaped slavery, More than 600,000 soldiers died, Southern states seceded and formed the Confederacy to protect slavery, Much of the South's farmland, railroads and cities lay in ruins

CauseEffect

3.Sort each one: Cause or Effect?

Sort: Abolitionists in the North demanding an end to slavery, The 14th Amendment made people who had been enslaved into citizens, Abraham Lincoln, who opposed the spread of slavery, was elected president in 1860, The national government became stronger than it had been before the war

CauseEffect

LessonPrint · D2.His.14.3-5 · Set 5 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Causes and Effects of the Civil War

Set 5. Prints on its own sheet.

1.1. A Southern economy that depended on the labor of enslaved people — Cause 2. About four million people were freed from slavery — Effect 3. The Dred Scott decision of 1857 said Congress could not ban slavery in the territories — Cause 4. The Union was preserved, and the Southern states rejoined it — Effect
2.1. More than 600,000 soldiers died — Effect 2. Much of the South's farmland, railroads and cities lay in ruins — Effect 3. Southern states seceded and formed the Confederacy to protect slavery — Cause 4. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 required Northerners to help return people who escaped slavery — Cause
3.1. Abolitionists in the North demanding an end to slavery — Cause 2. Abraham Lincoln, who opposed the spread of slavery, was elected president in 1860 — Cause 3. The 14th Amendment made people who had been enslaved into citizens — Effect 4. The national government became stronger than it had been before the war — Effect

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D2.His.14.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.