Sectional Differences

Much debate was caused by the fact that the North was anti slavery and the South was pro slavery. Both sides had opposing views about slavery and how it should be dealt with. The North had several negative things to say about it, whereas the South, obviously had a few positive factors to mention. If it were not for the creation of the cotton gin, the conflict between the two sides would have aroused. The South’s main argument was that slaves were mandatory for economic growth, while countless people in the North strongly refuted the statement. The South would have commanded more intense and severe work within the slaves, which would have sparked more discussion about the subject of matter.

During the early nineteenth century the United States began to split, but at the middle of the century people views started to become more concrete and so separation in the Union became more drastic. From 1850 to 1861 it was apparent that the union was separating into the North and the South. The Constitution played a major role in the separation that was occurring. Through sectional favoritism of bits and pieces of the Constitution and through ideas that were left out of it, the Constitution led to sectional discord and nearly the failure of the union.

In the early to mid 19th century, the country was at a major divide. Slavery was still allowed federally, but many northern states had decided to outlaw it in their own region. With new states coming into the union, each side hoped to gain control of the government and attempt to push their agenda. The civil war was a direct result of a north-south political and cultural divide exemplified with arguments abouts which states could be allowed into the union with slavery.

The North and South both had opposite opinions about slavery, The South favored slavery because of there agricultural based economy which they needed slaves to attend to their harvests and crops, the North was against slavery because they were an industrialized nation they had no need for slavery. This debate went on and almost resulted

The United States began to dissatisfy some of its citizens and so the concerns of sectionalism, or the split of the country began to arise. There was a continuous riff between the south and the north over a few issues,

One effect on the issue was that the economy in the south was fueled by cultivation of staple crops that required slaves for labor. In the South slavery wasn’t thought as an evil as in the North because to the Southerners defense the slaves in their opinion were treaty in contrast to workers in England and peasants that were Irish, also the end of slave trade brought higher value to the slaves causing their owners to be less harsh because they were more valuable. Although slavery fueled the economy in the South it was not the same in the North therefore there was no complete dire need for slavery, and although the slaves probably weren’t treated as bad as the north had thought they still saw it as

The antebellum era exposed the entirely different views and ways of life between the North and the South. These differences can be observed on the economic aspect. The North was industrialized enabling them to have functioning economy without the use of many labors; however, in the south, people relied on agriculture, and thus they needed a large number of slaved labors to help them work on the plantations. Such difference led to the main distinction which existed throughout the entire Civil War, the dependence on the slavery. These differences sparked conflict between the North and the South placing them in an indisputable position, eventually leading to the Civil War. The prosecution of the Civil War of North and South differed drastically. The North fought to preserve the Union which entailed abolishing slavery, enlisting the black in the army and also paying them proper wages, and the South fought to withdraw and preserve slavery and their agricultural lifestyle. These conflicting views did not disappear after the war. Although the North won the Civil War, they still wanted to unify the country, not only territorially, but also economically and politically by enforcing many new laws and amending the Constitution. And the South, even after the abolishment of slavery, people in the south remained hostile toward the freed people, saw themselves more superior than the freed people, and tried to resurrect the “Old South”.(192~198) To achieve the real union and realize the

Northern and Southern states both had different ideas about slavery; the North wanted to ban it whereas the South wanted to keep slavery in all states. This disagreement led to many different disagreements that had to resolved with multiple

In the time just before the Civil War, the United States was one of the most successful nations in the world. The United States had become the world’s leading cotton producing country and had developed industry, which would in the future, surpass that of Great Britain. Also, the United States possessed an advanced railroad and transportation system. However, despite its successes, the United States was becoming increasingly divided. The North and the South had many distinct differences in terms of their social, cultural, and economic characteristics that brought about sectionalism and, eventually, the Civil War.

The slavery matter caused the sectionalism between the North and the South: “There most certainly was sectional conflict between North and South over slavery-related matters...” America’s image or reputation in the international communities was also a part of the reasons that the northerners supported the abolishment of slavery. They cared about it because the trades with overseas countries were largely carried on in the North. Moreover, by 1865, most of more developed and influential countries at that time already abolished slavery, but slavery still existed in the U.S. Although the abolitionists were a minor group of anti-slavery people in the North, they argued to abolish slavery partially because they, as the northerners, worried about the America’s international image and how this would affect their trades and economy. The northern states could have seceded as they were wealthier, but with an economical reason, they needed the raw materials such as cotton from the south. Therefore, it was better for them to maintain the Union and also the secession is unconstitutional.

The North and the South were far from settling the slave issue. Another reason that caused the South to go to war was the difference in economic policies. The North was expanding more in the commercial and industrial side while the South was reliant on agriculture. Cities and factories had developed in the North and in the South, it was still staple producing and agrarian. The North’s industry was beginning to dominate its economy while the South was still mainly based on agriculture. The South only produced manufactured goods for consumption and the North were able to export manufactured goods. The taxes and tariff was unfair to the South. The Tariff Act of 1832 put high import fees on all European manufactured good, which was established to protect the Northern industries. The South’s reaction to the Act was a threat to secede from the Union. Railroads were also built to bond the northern tier of states. This made transportation easier in the Northeast than in the South. The Northeast traded with the West while the South can trade only by sea. " They wanted to promote the industry of the New England states, at the expense of the people of the South and their industry" In politics, the North had an advantage over the South. The North was more populated than the South and the South only counted slaves which was big part of their populations as * of a person. Since the House of Representative was based on population

The United States of America was very divided even as they were becoming more powerful. Without agreements such as the Missouri and ⅗ Compromise, our great nation may not have continued to be united after the Civil War. Along with compromises came sectional differences between the North and South. Matters such as slavery, economics, and representation in Congress were present when the U.S was founded in 1776. The North was against slavery, wanted more free states, and had lots of money in industries. The South was pro-slavery, their economy was based off of agriculture, and wanted to expand their slave states. While there were many factors that led up to the Civil War, failure to compromise about the morality of slavery, politics, and the economy

Prior to the election of 1860, it was obvious that the North and South exhibited characteristics of two different nations, even though they were termed the “United States of America.” Their views on political, economical, and social aspects on life resembled anything but a united nation with goals and aspirations regarding unity and equality. Due to regionalism in both the North and South and their development up until this point, Lincoln’s success in the election of 1860, the different views on equality, and contrasting beliefs on individualism acted as a catalyst ultimately causing the Southern leaders to secede and later declare war against the Union.

The Civil War was a time of fighting within the United States brought on by many events including the Missouri Compromise, abolition movement, presidential election of 1860, secession of Southern states, and other occurrences. Most Southern states seceded from the Union, forming the Confederate States of America. The big divide stemmed from the differing positions on slavery. The North had been gradually abolishing slavery and did not depend on such free labor in the way the South did. The agricultural dependant economy of the South relied on African American labor. Therefore, each side feared the stance the government would take on the issue of slavery and how that would affect the economy and politics of the nation. From 1861 to 1865, the

Slavery was something that became interwoven into the South’s economy considering it was a one crop economy that depended on cotton. Therefore it depended on slaves, even if only a fraction of the population actually owned slaves. Meanwhile, the northern economy was more focused on industry rather than agriculture. Their industries would purchase raw cotton and turn it into a finished good. The North and South therefore also had major differences in their economic attitudes. The dispute over slavery and the future of it led to secession, which brought a war where the Northern and Western states fought to preserve the Union and the Southern territories fought to establish their independence as a new confederation under a constitution of its own.