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North And South Essay

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North and South As the north and south began to separate after the Era of Good Feelings (1815-1825), the Second American Party System was established. This system consisted of two distinct parties, the Democrats and their opponents, who were known as Whigs for the most part. The goal of these two parties was to create a common thought process between the north and the south. Three of the issues prominent in their campaigns to gather votes in these two regions were government, economy, and slavery. Using these topics as foundations, the members of both parties of the Second American Party System aimed establish harmony between the north and south. Slavery played a major role in American society during the early 1820s. The argument …show more content…

But when a group of radical evangelicals called for immediate abolition of slavery, they made the national government face the issue of slavery, an issue it had been trying very hard to side step. In response, the Democrats prevented any abolitionist mail from reaching the South. Sometimes, they would not even respond to anti-slavery petitions that were sent to them. At this moment, former President Adams (an opponent to President Andrew Jackson) chose to openly oppose slavery. But already, most southerners saw what the Democrats wanted them to see: that their surest guarantee of safety within the Union was a disciplined Democratic Party that avoided sectional arguments. The Democrats said that a party that united northern and southern rights into a states'-rights, limited-government majority could guarantee states' rights within the Union. This statement answered the questions that arose during the Missouri debates: how do you protect the slave-holding South within the federal Union. Martin Van Buren believed the alternative to this agenda, the isolation of the slaveholding south, would lead to moral danger of the republic. Though said to be racists the Democrats handled the slave situation in a way that made the south understand their plan. Views on economy were a big difference between the Jacksonian Democrats and their opponents in relation to the north and south. President Jackson hated the bank and believed it was

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