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Historical events can cause later events or simply precede them. This image shows the battle of Fort Sumter in 1861, an event that marked the start of the American Civil War.
In middle school, you learned about the antebellum period of United States history. Because of your prior knowledge, you can determine the relationship between events. You know that the economic, political and social issues, such as slavery, preceded and caused the American Civil War. You also learned about the increased Irish immigration to the United States during this same time period. Large numbers of Irish immigrated to the United States because of the potato crop failures and the resulting famine. Although the potato crop failures caused massive migration to the United States, the large number of Irish immigrants arriving to the United States was an event that simply preceded the American Civil War and was not a cause of the war. These two historical examples demonstrate how events can cause later events or simply precede them. Economic, political and social issues and events caused the American Civil War. The massive Irish immigration to the United States simply preceded the Civil War and did not cause the war. In these examples, prior knowledge helped you determine the relationship between events.
In high school, you study events that took place after Reconstruction. When you read about historical periods after Reconstruction, you may not have enough prior knowledge to determine the relationship between a series of events. One strategy to assist you in determining the relationship between events is examining the text structure used by the author. Another strategy is to analyze events in chronological order and ask yourself "how" and "why" the events occurred, and did one event cause the other to happen.Take a look at the different types of signal words for cause-and-effect and sequence text structures. Recognizing how these words are used will help you determine the relationships between a series of events. You will also examine the events in chronological order and analyze their relationship.
Text structure |
Description |
Signal words |
Cause and Effect |
Cause-and-effect words signal that one thing causes another thing to happen. Sometimes a cause-and-effect relationship is shown within a sentence that contains these kind of signals. |
because |
Sequence |
Sequence words tell the order of events and are useful when there is reference to time in the passage. It can help you place events in chronological order so you can analyze the possible relationship between events. Generally, when a sequence structure is used, the earlier events preceded later events, but did not cause those later events. |
first |
Combination of Text Structures |
As a reader, you need to keep in mind that an author may combine different types of text structures in a document. A sequence passage may end with cause-and -effect sentences to explain that the combination of events caused another event to happen, rather than just one of them causing the event to occur. |
Look for both cause-and-effect and sequence signal words. |
Download the Text Structures and Signal Words PDF for a printed version of the different types of text structures and the signal words associated with each type. Keep the PDF handy as you progress through the activities in the module.
Let’s apply what you have learned about the use of text structure signal words to help determine the relationship between a series of events described in a document.
Read the following passage.
Woodrow Wilson became president of the United States in 1913. The population was 100 million and life expectancy was 52 for men and 56.8 for women. Ninety-five percent of births took place at home. The women’s suffrage movement was taking to the streets demanding the right to vote. The Ford Motor Company began producing affordable automobiles and sold 248,000 cars that year. More Americans could afford to purchase a family car. This caused Americans to take to the roads, unconcerned about international events. Therefore, most people in 1914, were surprised by the swift chain of events that lead to war in Europe.
President Wilson did not think it was in America’s interest to become involved in the European war. He was concerned about Americans taking sides in the conflict because of their national heritage. Over nine million immigrants had come to the United States in the past decade. For this reason, he urged Americans to remain neutral and not to inflame passions in support of one side or the other.Watch the following video to see how signal words are applied to determine the relationship between the events described in the passage .
On the next page, you will explore the chronological order of events from the passage.
