Sectionalism In The North And The South During The Early 1800s

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During the early 1800s, the North and the South had severe political differences ranging from different interpretations of the federal laws to state laws. With the addition of the Louisiana Purchase, the North and the South disputed between the division of the new lands, which caused even more disagreement. The different conflicts caused sectionalism in which each region became aware of their own beliefs and their own methods. The South began to believe they were politically inferior in terms of electing an official in their favors and interpreting the laws, as compared to their Northern counterparts, which led to the South’s decision to secede, giving rise to the Civil War. Undoubtedly, tariffs and taxes were an ongoing issue between the …show more content…

Having more land meant having more political power, because there would be more people to vote. For the South, they argued they had less political power, because the people who were only allowed to vote were males above the age of 21. The “3/5th Compromise” was put in, which meant that slaves now counted as 3/5ths of the population. With the addition of the whole western territory, the North and the South tried to divide the land evenly; for every state the South claimed it turned into a slave state, and the North would claim a free state. Although the North and the South disagreed on the topic of slavery, the heart of the argument was based on whether the South had more power to decide which state was to be admitted to their region, or whether the North had power to claim the states as their own. Popular sovereignty was also put into play, because the people in Utah and New Mexico were able to decide the fate of the state. During the election of 1860 which launched Abraham Lincoln into office, Lincoln was able to win, not because of the popular votes, but because of the electoral votes. It was a sectional victory, which meant Lincoln dominated the North, which carried most of the electoral voted. The South who already had known the powers the North had, was able to visually see it in this election. Not only that, the Southerners misunderstood his campaign thinking he was going to free all the