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 7 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: More than 600,000 soldiers died, A Southern economy that depended on the labor of enslaved people, Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter in April 1861, The national government became stronger than it had been before the war
CauseEffect
2.Sort each one: Cause or Effect?
Sort: The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 required Northerners to help return people who escaped slavery, Reconstruction began, to rebuild the South and protect the rights of freed people, About four million people were freed from slavery, Arguments over whether slavery could spread into the western territories
CauseEffect
3.Sort each one: Cause or Effect?
Sort: Violent fighting in Kansas over whether it would allow slavery, The Union was preserved, and the Southern states rejoined it, The 14th Amendment made people who had been enslaved into citizens, Abolitionists in the North demanding an end to slavery
CauseEffect
LessonPrint · D2.His.14.3-5 · Set 7 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Causes and Effects of the Civil War
Set 7. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. A Southern economy that depended on the labor of enslaved people — Cause 2. Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter in April 1861 — Cause 3. More than 600,000 soldiers died — Effect 4. The national government became stronger than it had been before the war — Effect
2.1. About four million people were freed from slavery — Effect 2. Arguments over whether slavery could spread into the western territories — Cause 3. Reconstruction began, to rebuild the South and protect the rights of freed people — Effect 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. The 14th Amendment made people who had been enslaved into citizens — Effect 3. The Union was preserved, and the Southern states rejoined it — Effect 4. Violent fighting in Kansas over whether it would allow slavery — Cause
Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D2.His.14.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.