Sectionalism Between The North And South In The 1800s

Although the aftereffects of the era of good feelings dominated the beginning of the time period and compromises were at first effective, sectionalism over national subjects, especially slavery, led to a crisis in which compromises often meant more increase in political tensions. (Doc F) Sectionalism abruptly increased in the 1820 and 1830's with The Missouri Compromise and the Tallmadge Amendment. Tallmadge's radical proposition was that Missouri gradually emancipated its slaves and prohibit slavery in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase which produced raging political debates. If Missouri went either as a slave state or free state, the precarious balance of eleven to eleven states in the senate would be upset. The compromise

Throughout the 19th century, the distinctions between the North and South in the United States were controversial. Prior to the Civil War, the North consisted of business owners and middle-class men. The South consisted of mostly farmers. The North was industrial, using railroads and factories. The South was agricultural, with mostly farms and plantations. The North paid their labor workers. The South used slaves. Not only did their opposing views on slavery and the separation of the two cultures, tensions arose that eventually led to one of the most gruesome wars in history.

In 1819, two more states wishing to join the union, were Missouri and Maine. Missouri wanted to join the union in the in the north, but as a slave state. this would make the balance of power in congress unequal. Many northerners opposed this idea. Northerners proposed that Missouri be a slave state and that no more slaves were to be brought in, and all slave children would be free at age 25. Eventually Missouri would be a free state. Southerners were opposed to this idea. Congress debated for months. This brought about the Missouri Compromise of 1820, when Henry Clay proposed that Maine enter the union as a free state. He also proposed prohibiting slavery above the 36’30’ latitude, which is the southern boundary of Missouri. Since plantations would not be able to survive further north of this line, the South agreed.

The Missouri Compromise was a temporary solution to the issue of slavery and territorial rights such as the movement West. Two areas of land wanted to become states in 1820, known as Maine and Missouri. Maine wanted to enter as a free state with no slavery as everyone in that area was against it and wanted it abolished. Missouri wanted to enter as a slave state and was all for slavery and wanted it to be spread all throughout the country. The compromise everyone came into conclusion with, was that there would be no slavery allowed north of 36° 30’ latitude. This angered the Southerners because their intention was to promote slavery not have it abolished. They realized that this compromise threatened the balance between free and slave states; Maine and Missouri. In order to expand slavery, the South felt that the United States would need territory from Mexico. The only area of land left was in Arkansas and that line became known as the Missouri Compromise line. The impact that the Missouri Compromise had on the United States was tremendous and had many effects on issues such as national politics, the institution of slavery, and the overall togetherness of the nation as a whole.

Sectionalism was ultimately the main cause of the civil war. Sectionalism is occurs when an individual identifies with a geographic section of the United States based on their culture, social, economical, and political interests of that section. Sectionalism eventually caused the division of the nation, and created parts of the nation, which were the Union and the Confederation. As the tensions progressed, the government strived to unite the divided nation by establishing different legislation to satisfy each section; however, multiple historical events, such as the Election of Abraham Lincoln, the passing of the Kansas Nebraska Act, etc, interrupted the balancing act within the divided nation. The tensions between these sections eventually built up and caused the Civil War to occur. The Civil War was caused by the various economical differences within the nation, the conflict between the legality of slavery, and the political disputes in Congress over issues during that time.

The south began to rely on agriculture as their basis of economic growth. For this to be success, slavery was an almost a natural need for the people of the south. Cotton began to grow as a cash crop for the South. Cotton was dependent on many workers needed for it to exist, thus the need for such a large amount of work force. Slavery in the late 1700’s was beginning to die down and cotton was paying the biggest price for it. Not until Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin did the issue of slavery spark up again and cotton begins to thrive. In 1820 Missouri wished to be part of the Union as a slave state. With there already being an equality of Slave states and Free states it caused tension and sectionalism within the country; because of the edition of Missouri would cause an unbalance of free and slave states. In hopes to resolve this conflict a compromise was reached known as the Missouri Compromise. Through the Missouri Compromise Missouri was able to enter as a slave state, while Maine was able to enter as a free state. However, as pointed out, it created a line between slave states and Free states. Any state below Missouri was able to practice slavery, and any state above was to be a Free State. Even John Quincy Adams led to the sectionalism, with his supportive views of the Compromise. (Document F) He expressed views in the emancipation of slavery as a

During the period of 1820-1861 the north and south debated on issues that dealt with slavery and unbalance power, in order to reduce sectional tension between these two states, the Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act were proposed.

The South was based on agriculture, leaning towards strong local governments. The North was heavily influenced by Henry Clay’s American System, accompanied with large scale industrialization and cities. The most distinctive political difference between the northern and southern states was their view on slavery. The southern states found slaves a necessity in order to have a labour force to operated the cotton gins in the plantations; however, the northern states opposed the use of slaves due to their morales. This sectionalism caused a division among American citizens, affecting the government’s ability to unite the two political ideologies. To attempt to satisfy the demands of both the North and South, the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was created to resolve issues of slavery in newer western states. This compromise brought upon the 36-30 Parallel Line, a geographical line that split the North and South, depicting the contrasting political and societal views and increasing sectionalism (F). This power struggle between states and the federal government only caused unrest, resulting in no further beneficial reforms or rulings, causing the Era of Good Feelings to not hold true to its name.

During the Age of Jackson, America was still trying to find it’s definite identity. America was making progress, but they were not where they wanted to be yet. The sense of optimism and ongoing expansion during the early 19th century that helped to bring America together for a period both contributed to a time of happiness and breakthroughs in which America is trying to be defined as a happy and thriving nation. The rise of democracy coupled with the the gradual political process, both magnify the degree to which America was still trying to find themselves politically. The rise of sectionalism and decline of nationalism point to the once wavering aura of togetherness and separateness and now complete dominance of sectionalism. These

In the early 1800s, the North began to industrialize and the South relied more heavily on growing cotton. At the same time, a rising sense of nationalism pulled people from different regions together. Nationalism is a feeling of pride, loyalty, and protectiveness toward your country. Sectionalism was when people had a feeling of pride in a small region or part of a nation. The War of 1812 sent a wave of nationalist feeling through the United States. Representative Henry Clay, from Kentucky, was a strong nationalist. After the war, President James Madison supported Clay’s plan to strengthen the country and unify its different regions. Nationalism and Sectionalism were present during the early 1800s. The people who carried out Nationalism had pride in their whole nation and the people who carried out Sectionalism had pride in part of a nation but, not the nation as a whole. Nationalists based their actions off trying to benefit the whole nation, the idea of nationalism was created to increase revenue in America. Sectionalism became a problem because Americans either saw themselves as southerners or northerners and the country became very divided. Sectionalism was one of the major reasons that the civil war began because of the divide between the south and the north. Sectional sentiments challenged nationalism, but the latter remained strong among the American people. Nationalism also prevailed due to the ideologies and actions of the country's leaders in the executive and

Sectionalism played a large part in the fight for and against slavery in the 1800s. Slavery was a big issue, as the North wanted to abolish slavery with feelings about it being intesified in the early 1800s. The North also felt strongly opposed to slavery for the new states in the West. In the mid-1800s, slavery was a common practice in the South. So common that they viewed it as a large part of how their economy was run.

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.

A compromise is an agreement made by two sides each making concessions. The compromises of the nineteenth century were ultimately perfidies. The North had constantly given into the South’s desires. Although the North was able to give the South what they requested, this eventually led to the secession of the South. Two main compromises that lead the South to gain more power included the Missouri Compromise of 1820, and the Tariff of 1833 due to the North and South’s dispute on slavery since the framing of the constitution.

Henry Clay created the Missouri Compromise in 1820 along with the Compromise of 1850 to try and keep America together. The Missouri Compromise helped keep the balance of “free states and “slave states”, and the Compromise of 1850 defused confrontation between slave and free states during the Mexican-American War. During that time period, the South never politicized their stance on slavery. In his speech to the Senate on February 12, 1833 Henry Clay said “it is impossible that South Carolina ever desired for a moment to become a separate and independent state” (A). Along with this, it was said at the Anti-Slavery Convention of 1834 that “we concede the Congress under the present national compact, has no right to interfere with any of the slave states (B)” even though they opposed slavery. According to the documents, early political stances did not threaten the act of compromise, but after dislike for the Compromise of 1850 from both the North and South (the North because of the Fugitive Slave Act and the South thought it was unfair), slavery started to threaten the nation’s political disintegration. The tension that had been caused carried through the 1860 election; if you lived in Southern states you couldn’t vote for Lincoln if you wanted to, he wasn’t even put on the ballot. Slavery and the division it caused between the North and

Sectionalism, in it’s earliest American state was found in the early 1800’s. Tensions were high during this time, with Slavery becoming a much more Sectional issue. The South claimed Slavery a Necessary Evil, and that without it, the South’s economy would collapse. Many in the South believed it was a positive thing, providing slaves with shelter, food, and many cases, religion. On the opposite side, many northerners called for Abolition, or, the end of slavery (“Course Notes, Sectionalism and Slavery”).