Events in History Have Causes and Effects

Hello, historian! I am Sage, and today we are going to think like real history detectives. In history, a **cause** is the reason something happened. An **effect** is what happened because of that cause. Causes always come FIRST; effects come AFTER. Here is a simple example: Imagine a drought — a long stretch of time with almost no rain. That drought (the cause) dried up farmers' crops. Because their crops died, people did not have enough food (the effect). Because they did not have enough food, many families packed up and moved to new places looking for a better life (another effect). Notice how one cause set off a whole chain of effects — like dominoes falling! Historians ask two big questions: **"Why did this happen?"** (looking for the cause) and **"What happened because of it?"** (looking for the effect). Here is a real example from American history. In 1848, gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in California. That discovery (cause) made hundreds of thousands of people rush to California hoping to get rich (effect). Because so many people moved there so fast, California's booming population led Congress to make it a U.S. state in 1850 (another effect), and new towns, roads, and businesses had to be built to serve all those newcomers. One helpful hint: look for **clue words**. Words like **because**, **so**, **as a result**, **therefore**, and **led to** often point you toward a cause-and-effect connection. When you spot one of those words, ask yourself: what came before it (the cause) and what came after it (the effect)? Remember: history is not just a list of things that happened — it is a chain of causes and effects that changed how people lived. Let us practice finding those chains!