Sectionalism In 19th Century Essay

During the mid 1800s, as America was expanding westward, the economy of the different regions in America boosted. The north based their economy off of the recently developed industries, whereas the south continued their work with agriculture and the production of cotton. The development of these two very different forms of business led to sectionalism, or the devotion to the advancement of one’s region as opposed to the country as whole. As more people immigrated to the US in the 1840s specifically from Ireland and Germany, America’s newfound industries were provided with unqualified and inexperienced employees who would work for very little pay. These immigrants were forced to move to the north because they didn’t have the money to buy land

After Texas won its independence from Mexico, the people who inhabited that area believed they were entitled to the entire land of, what was then, Texas. Manifest Destiny, or the belief of a God-given entitlement, was instilled in the hearts of many Americans; they believed God wanted them to expand outward. Yet the Mexicans weren’t prepared to give up all that land, and only allowed the Texans the area of land in which they inhabited. After the annexation of Texas in 1845, both the US and Mexico placed troops in the previously uninhabited land that the white Texans had believed they won. Thus began the Mexican-American war, and America, with its skilled military and greater population, easily defeated the Mexicans. One result of the war was the expansion of the US territory. The US then gained a third more land and completed the mainland US we have today. Another result of the Mexican-American was the division of the nation over which parts of the newly gained territory would be free of slavery, since the Americans wanted both the north and the south to have equal representation in the government. The Mexican-American war allowed America to once again expand and solidify its border, this time to the