The institution of slavery had always been associated with America since the beginning of time dating back to the first English colony of Jamestown. In the early years, ignorance of this immoral practice was common in order to avoid conflict. However by the 19th century, popular sovereignty, manifest destiny, along with the sense of morality brought by the 2nd Great Awakening led to sectionalism and growing tensions concerning the issue of slavery. The status of new states, economic differences, and state’s rights were all contributing factors that ultimately fueled the start of the Civil War in which northern and western regions had contrasting views to that of the south. The western expansion along with the newly acquired territory from the Mexican War called for the organization of these territories into free or slave states. Northerners desired the western territory to be a place for white individuals to become self sufficient farmers while southerners wanted this …show more content…
With Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin, the south was able to became a large agricultural powerhouse for cotton. This sudden growth of the south’s economy helped the north grow as well by utilizing the southern cash crop to produce finished goods. The south relied solely on cotton as their only crop and became even more dependent on slavery. In contrast, the north’s economy diversified and the increase in manufacturing and factories created a flourishing economy for the north. The differences between these two economies called for different political policies to govern each region. The north was in favor of high tariffs to protect their growing industries from foreign competition. On the other hand, the south wanted low tariffs because they purchased lots of manufactured goods from overseas. These different attitudes and policies succeeded in further separating the northern and southern