Civil War: Causes and Effects

Grade 5 · Social Studies · Study Guide

Explore the major causes that led to the American Civil War and the lasting effects it had on the nation.

The American Civil War (1861–1865) was one of the most significant events in United States history. It divided the country into the Union (North) and the Confederacy (South) and resulted in enormous loss of life.

The war had several major causes. Slavery was the central issue — the Southern economy depended on enslaved people to work on plantations, while many Northerners wanted to stop slavery from spreading into new territories. States' rights was another cause: Southern states believed they had the right to make their own laws, including laws about slavery. Economic differences also played a role, as the North relied on industry and factories while the South relied on farming.

When Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860, Southern states feared he would abolish slavery. Eleven Southern states seceded, or broke away, from the Union to form the Confederate States of America.

The effects of the Civil War were enormous. Slavery was abolished through the 13th Amendment in 1865. Over 600,000 soldiers died, making it the deadliest war in American history. The Reconstruction era followed, attempting to rebuild the South and integrate formerly enslaved people into society. The war also confirmed that the United States would remain one nation and that no state could legally leave the Union.

Key terms

Secession: The act of formally withdrawing from a political union, such as Southern states leaving the United States.
Confederacy: The group of eleven Southern states that seceded from the United States before and during the Civil War.
Abolition: The movement to end slavery completely.
13th Amendment: The change to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1865, that officially abolished slavery throughout the United States.
Reconstruction: The period after the Civil War (1865–1877) when the U.S. government worked to rebuild the South and reunite the country.
States' Rights: The belief that individual states have the power to govern themselves and make their own laws without federal interference.

Flashcards

Union: The Northern states that remained loyal to the United States government during the Civil War.
Confederacy: The eleven Southern states that seceded from the Union and formed their own government.
Secession: The act of withdrawing from the United States, as Southern states did in 1860–1861.
Slavery: The system in which people were legally owned by others and forced to work without pay — the central cause of the Civil War.
13th Amendment: The constitutional amendment ratified in 1865 that abolished slavery in the United States.
Reconstruction: The era from 1865–1877 when the U.S. rebuilt the South and tried to integrate freed people into society.
Abraham Lincoln: The 16th President of the United States who led the Union during the Civil War and issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
Emancipation Proclamation: President Lincoln's 1863 order that declared enslaved people in Confederate states to be free.

Questions

What was the central cause of the American Civil War?
1. Disagreements over taxes on imported goods
2. The issue of slavery and whether it should spread
3. Arguments over who should build the railroads
4. Disputes about building a national bank
Show answer
Answer: The issue of slavery and whether it should spread
Slavery was the central issue of the Civil War — specifically whether it should be allowed to expand into new U.S. territories.
The Confederate States of America was made up of Northern states that wanted to keep slavery.
Show answer
Answer: False
The Confederacy was made up of eleven Southern states, not Northern states. They seceded because they wanted to preserve slavery.
The _______ Amendment, ratified in 1865, abolished slavery in the United States.
Show answer
Answer: 13th
The 13th Amendment, ratified in December 1865, officially abolished slavery throughout the United States.
What was the period after the Civil War called, when the government worked to rebuild the South?
1. The Revolution
2. Reconstruction
3. The Restoration
4. The New Deal
Show answer
Answer: Reconstruction
The Reconstruction era (1865–1877) was the period when the federal government worked to rebuild the South and reunite the country after the war.
Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860 was one of the events that led Southern states to secede.
Show answer
Answer: True
Southern states feared Lincoln would restrict or abolish slavery, so after his election, eleven states seceded to form the Confederacy.

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