Sectionalism During 1815-1860

During 1815 to 1860 it was a period of time where the United States was marked by growing sectionalism. This would lead to a division when it would come to economic, social, religious, and political stances. During this time many events like the issue of slavery and the moral differences people had would also lead to the Civil War. During this period of time many events happened that created changes in the world that are still being affected to this day.

To start off, a major cause of sectionalism during 1815 to 1860 would be economical differences between the south and north. Their difference would divide the two regions which included industrialization and agriculture. The north would be rebuilt quickly with new transportation and manufacturing.

One example would be the Compromise of 1850. This was intended to solve the debate of slavery in new acquired territories. This would include California, Utah, New Mexico, Washington D.C, and Texas. In an article written by the national archives it states “California requested permission to enter the Union as a "free state" – meaning one where slavery was banned. Adding more "free state" senators to Congress would destroy the balance between "slave" and "free" states that had existed since the Missouri Compromise of 1820.”. This would give the option to legalize slavery to the territories of New Mexico and Utah. In the end the compromise of 1850 was done and was composed of five statutes, The acts called for the admission of California as a "free state," provided for a territorial government for Utah and New Mexico, established a boundary between Texas and the United States, called for the abolition of slave trade in Washington, DC, and amended the Fugitive Slave

Slavery was such a big problem that affected many people and were ultimately going to do something about it. The New England Quarterly published which stated "The North and the South, divided by a moral issue of the first magnitude, the one detesting slavery, the other glorifying it as the basis of its social system, were unable to understand each other and the Civil War came as an inevitable result”. Slavery had a huge impact on social, religious, and economical stance that made it hard for people to ignore such a huge issue. Since the north and south had drastically different economic systems they clashed and had huge problems with each other. Also with the rise of the Republican Party and the election of Abraham Lincoln their fear escalated and suspicions among Southern states about the future of slavery and their perceived loss of political power. Even though there were some groups who wanted compromises and solutions, they never appeared and there were not enough groups to bring together the big gap between the north and south. There may have been different options that people could have taken but there were irreparable causes that made it