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Sectional Tension Research Paper

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Sectional Tensions
G11 Elvis Park
AP US History
2015/11/23

Although now one nation as United States of America, in the past, the nation was divided into sections: the North and the South. The nation had to go through tragic Civil War to be united and become successful and grow as one unity. Behind the Civil War there was a gradual increase of sectional tensions between the North and the South mainly due tothe western expansion.Utilization of slavery became the main conflict between the North and the South. This essay will focus briefly on the background of western expansion and how it had contributed to the growing sectionalism. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson purchased the territory of Louisiana from the French government also known as the Louisiana Purchase. The Louisiana Purchase stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to New Orleans, and it doubled the size of the United States. Jefferson thought westward expansion was the key to the nation’s health. In order to provide enough land to the yeoman (farmers), the United States had to continue to expand. Jefferson believed that western expansion would fill up the empty lands with immigrants and provide enough lands for the farmers, so he decided to support the western expansion. …show more content…

Northern cities, the center of industry in the United States, became major melting pot and a core due to an increase of immigration. Since they had available cheap labor force, the North did not require a slave system. Although some Northerners found the institution of slavery morally reprehensible, most did not believe it was a moral thing. The slavery issues became even more devastating when it threatened to expand westward because non-slave holding white settlers did not want to compete with slaveholders in the new

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