How Did Western Expansion Affect The Sectional Tension Between 1800 And 1850

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Between 1800 and 1850, western expansion played a major role in the sectional tensions between the North and South in America. Most of this would stem from whether or not new territory would be free or slave states. Later on, there would be compromises in place to alleviate the tension but disunity between the North and South was very prevalent. In 1803, the Louisiana Purchase from the French got a rise out of the New England Federalist party. They were against western expansion because they believed it would reduce power and the influence of the party and the northeastern states. This would spawn secessionist schemes from the vice president Aaron Burr. He had no interest in continuing to be part of the Union, openly discussing seceding from …show more content…

When Missouri applied for statehood in 1819, James Tallmadge of New York would only support the admission of this state if only new slaves were banned and if the current slaves of the area were freed. White inhabitants of the Missouri refused the offer and the House of Representatives would later on block the admission. The South were not pleased. They were unwilling to break their commitment to slavery and saw it was unfair that Missouri had be to upheld to conditions that other states were not. They even defended slavery by saying it was a “necessary evil” and that Christ himself gave sanction to slavery. They used their power in the Senate to prevent statehood from Maine which was trying to disjoint from Massachusetts. After years of debate, Henry Clay composed political agreements called the Missouri Compromise set to admit Maine (separating from Massachusetts) as a Free State in 1820 and Missouri as a Slave State in 1821. Also in the agreement accepted that slavery would be banned in future admissions to the Union above the Missouri Compromise line (N of latitude 36 30’) except Missouri. This compromise maintained a balance in the Senate between the North and South. During the Mexican-American war an antislavery Democratic congressmen named David Wilmot followed the sentiment that the power of slavery was aiming to govern the country and its laws. He in turn, proposed the Wilmot Proviso, which planned to ban