Henry Clay once wrote: "I know of no South, no North, no East, no West to which I owe my allegiance. The Union is my country." (Pearson) He was referring to sense of Nationalism, a feeling that people have of being loyal to and proud of their country. Nationalism is desire to consider the greater good of the country. When specific geographic areas put their own needs and beliefs over the entire country, sectionalism is born. Sectionalism is an identification with a geographic section and the cultural, social, economic, and political interests of that section. (Sectionalism Facts) Sectionalism is a loyalty to a section, rather than the country as a whole. Sectionalism can be traced back to the Manifest Destiny which is an opinion that the …show more content…
The North was a region that flourished based upon manufacturing while the South was an agricultural region. The West thrived on farming and mining. Each area had different needs. One example of such needs was that the North wanted tariffs to keep Americans buying American made products while the South disliked tariffs because the imported cotton to other countries. The Westerners were more self-sufficient than the other regions and their needs consisted of transportation and cheap land. The West didn't oppose tariffs if those funds were could be used for better transportation to the west. (Sectionalism …show more content…
Southerners relied on slaves to produce the cotton and considered those slaves as property, but Northerners felt that slavery was in violation of the Constitutional right to liberty,the pursuit of happiness, and equal rights. As the country expanded west and more states were added, there were more issues with sectionalism. When Missouri requested statehood, they wanted to be admitted as a slave state. If they had been allowed to join, the free states would have been outnumbered. Maine also wanted to become a free state. To keep the balance of the nation, Henry Clay suggested the Missouri Compromise that both states be admitted at the same time to keep the balance. (Cornell, p. 214) This action continued to keep the country divided based upon the regional attitudes of slavery, however, it did relieve the tension of what would happen if there wasn't a balance anymore. The Compromise of 1850 included the Fugitive Slave Law which also was an act of sectionalism. (Cornell, p. 347) Under this law, runaway slaves could not be free if they escaped to the North, but rather they must be returned to their owners. This law created more tension between the North and South because a Northerner could be held accountable for harboring a fugitive if they helped a slave
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.
A sense of unity filled the United States of America after they gained independence by winning the Revolutionary War. This sense of unity, however, did not last forever. Rather than having disputes with Britain, the United States began to have disputes among its three "sections" - the north, south, and west. Starting with the War of 1812, sectionalism began as a small rift but grew into a huge gap that separated the north, south, and west.
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
Most importantly, with regards to sectionalism, were the many disputes involving slavery. As Anna Hayes from South Carolina asserts, in her letter to her cousin, the situation in South Carolina was just as bad “if not superior to the scenes acted in St. Domingo.” South Carolina was currently experiencing slave revolts at that time. These slave revolts brought up the question of whether or not slavery was correct which caused mush sectionalism between different regions of the United States. John Randolph, who also apposed the Tariff of 1816, mentioned that a simple geographical line – the Missouri Compromise- was not enough to completely silence the controversy of slavery.
The United States during the 1800s became primarily divided into two sections classified as North and South. In the early years of the 19th century, the market revolution advanced technology and industrialization in America, but impacted the north drastically while the south continued to promote agricultural society. The debate over slavery then became the leading cause to the sectionalism formed in America because most Northerners were opposed to the idea of slavery while many southerners used slaves to maintain economic stability. Sectionalism in the United States was a fundamental cause of the Civil War because of disputes over territorial expansion and increases in physical violence.
Since Missouri’s population was composed of 16 percent slaves, it would be admitted as a slave state therefore upsetting the balance in favor of the south. Northerners didn’t like this because Missouri was at the same latitude as the free states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and because of this they feared that it would set a precedent for slave states coming more north. The north and south continued to argue and argue over the issue of slavery. The north accused the south of trying to extend the institution of slavery and the south said that the north was conspiring to destroy the Union and end slavery. To resolve this crisis, congress passed a series of agreements that became known as the Missouri Compromise, which smoothed over the crisis. In 1820, Congress admitted Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state in order to balance the number of free and slave states and to keep order between the north and south. Also, it prohibited slavery in the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase north of the southern boundary of Missouri. This compromise soon fell apart after it was passed. Missouri drafted its own Constitution saying that free blacks were prohibited from entering their territory. Because of this provision, which was against the federal Constitution stating that citizens of one state were entitled to the same rights as citizens of other states, antislavery northerners
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.
The south was worried that if the North was given more land, the power of the House of Representatives would be unbalanced, and that may run the risk of slavery being abolished. In the end, Missouri was admitted as a slave state, Maine was a free state, and slavery would be prohibited in the Louisiana territory North of latitude 36º30’N except for Missouri. This kept the general piece because the power of the House of Representatives would stay balanced. This time period was the rise of abolitionism in America. The movement was a push for the emancipation of slaves and the end of racial discrimination in society and politics.
Nationalism can be classified into three broad approaches, “political, psychological, and cultural”. Calhoun offers explanations for all three in his tripartite typology of nationalism. In accordance to the political principle, it involves three fundamental assumptions: “there exists a nation with an explicit and peculiar character; the interests and values of this nation take priority over all other interests and values; the nation must be as independent as possible”. With these assumptions, they make up the political principle because it shapes the attitudes leaders hold on the state they’re governing and hold other states as inferior when it comes to interests (page 9 - https://www.russellsage.org/sites/all/files/u4/Bonikowski%20&%20DiMaggio_American%20Nationalism.pdf
In 1850, the Compromise was formed as a way of preventing the southerners from withdrawing from the Union. Part of this law, was the Fugitive Slave act, which aroused many reactions from the public that it ultimately led to the civil war. This Fugitive Slave Act stated that the southerners were still owners of these slaves that had escaped to the north and that the Northerners had to abide to it, even though most of their states had illegalized slavery. This law also made it hard for the blacks to have a fair trial as they were not able to prove whether they were free or not. This led to the blacks in the northern states freeing to Canada in fear of being returned to slavery and because they did not feel as safe anymore. The Compromise, to keep the southerners in the Union, made these laws on slaves to favor them. However unexpectedly it made the Abolitionists
In some respect one could call it a sense of nationalism, much like what the
The most important difference between the north and south was the issue of slavery. The South was primarily agricultural, and the southern economy was based upon the existence of large family farms known as
After Independence from Britain, the southern and northern sections of the United States began to separate as they aged, mainly due to conflicts of interests. Even during the creation of the Unites States constitution, the founding fathers debated slavery. Slaves were considered 3/5ths of a person when regarding representation based on population. This lessened the amount of seats southern states would hold in the House of Representatives, lessening their influence on political matters before the civil war. The Northerners had a heavier influence on laws, leading to the passage of laws in their favor. The Northern section of the United States of America became focused on manufacturing while the southern sections became dependent on agriculture, mainly cash crops harvested by slave labor. Although the States rights versus Federal rights conflict played a role in the cause of the Civil War, a major contributing factor was the institution of slavery and how it should be implemented in the United States.
One of the biggest divisions between the north and south was slavery. The south needed slaves to tend to crops such as cotton, which became a major part of the south’s economy after the invention of the cotton gin. The north, meanwhile, gained an increasingly large number of abolitionists opposing slavery. The abolitionists believed that slavery was immoral and were influenced by former slaves like Frederick Douglass, as well as through literature, including Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Although the divisions over slavery would not end until later on agreements like the Missouri Compromise of 1820 reduced tensions by preventing any new states above the 36 30’ parallel from joining the union as a slave state.
Later, many questions arose regarding if the newly acquired territory should allow slavery. In the attempt to solve this, Henry Clay led the Missouri Compromise which admitted Missouri as a slave state, and Maine as a free state creating a balance in Congress. This led to the belief that later in the future slavery be prohibited north of the southern border of Missouri in the remaining of the Louisiana Purchase. The issue of slavery continued to be an issue as the nation expanded because the Missouri Compromise didn’t apply to new territories that were not part of the Louisiana Purchase. By the new land acquired, the Southern economy increased because of the “Cotton King”, which also increased the labor in order to maintain the newly achieved economy. One the other hand, the North believed that the expansion of slavery was very small because they didn’t depend on slavery for their economic survival. The North relied on on textile industry on southern crops was increased by the creation of the cotton gin. Many Americans kept migrating to the west despite after the Missouri Compromise was adopted. Many would cross to the Oregon Territory, which belonged to the British and many more settled in Mexican territory