Sectionalism

Prior to the Civil War, The North and the South were very different.

In the North....

• The Economy was based on INDUSTRY.
• Large cities grew due to having factory work.
• Favored the government spending money on internal improvements or roads.
• Believe in having TARIFFS to make foreign goods more expensive so Americans bought the goods made in U.S> Factories.

In the South.....

• The Economy was based on FARMING or AGRICULTURE
• Economy was based on slave labor
• It was mainly rural
• Thought the government should NOT spend money on roads.
• Thought that there should be NO TARIFFS because they made goods too expensive.

The West

Compromise and Popular Sovereignty with Slavery

The Missouri Compromise stated that Missouri would be a slave state and Maine would be a free state. This kept the slave and free states balanced in Congress.

The Compromise of 1850 said that California could enter as a free state. It also created the Fugitive Slave Act. This strengthened the power of Southern states saying that runaway slaves had to be returned to their Southern Slave owners.

In the Kansas and Nebraska Act it was decides that people in a state could vote to decide if they wanted slavery or not. This is known as popular sovereignty.

The maps below illustrate this for you.