Sectionalism 1820-1860

• Sectionalism occurred between 1820 and 1860.
• Sectionalism is placing the interests of a region above the interests of the nation.

Differences Between North and South from 1820-1850

• The North had industrial factories, cities, paid immigrant workers, railroads, and a larger population.
• The North's economy was based on manufacturing and commerce, having more than five times as many factories as the South.
• The North's factories produced textiles, like cotton fabric and yarn, as well as materials such as steel and iron.
• Factories in the North helped the Union mass produce weapons and other supplies for their army during the Civil War
• The South's economy relied on agriculture, especially "King Cotton," and was largely rural with few railroads and factories and an enslaved population.

Missouri Compromise

• In 1820, Missouri's request to become a slave state threatened to upset the balance in Congress.
• Henry Clay's solution was to admit Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state.
• The compromise also outlawed slavery in western territories above the 36°30' line.

Nullification Crisis

• In the 1830s, tariffs further divided the North and South.
• The South argued tariffs only benefited the North and made manufactured goods too expensive.
• John C. Calhoun of South Carolina attempted nullification and threatened secession, arguing for states' rights.

Nat Turner Rebellion

• In 1831, Nat Turner's rebellion increased the harshness of slavery in the South.
• Nat Turner freed enslaved people on Virginia farms.
• 60 white farmers were killed.
• Southerners responded by making slave codes more severe.

Westward Expansion

• With the addition of the Mexican Cession, Southerners hoped that slavery would spread to the Pacific Ocean.
• The 1846 Wilmot Proviso, suggested by Northern Congressmen, aimed to outlaw slavery in all territory gained from Mexico.
• Congressmen voted according to region instead of party lines and the law failed to pass.

Free Soil Party

• The Free Soil Party formed in 1848 to prevent slavery from expanding into the West, but not to abolish slavery altogether.
• The Free Soil Party did not believe Congress had the power to abolish slavery.

California Statehood

• In 1850, California's request to enter the Union as a free state was met with opposition from the South, which wanted slavery allowed in the southwest territories.
• The North, however, approved and wanted to keep slavery out of the southwest

Compromise of 1850

• Proposed by Henry Clay.
• California entered as a free state.
• Popular sovereignty would determine the status of slavery in Utah and New Mexico.
• The people can vote to decide whether to allow or ban slavery.
• The slave trade gets outlawed in Washington, DC
• A stronger Fugitive Slave Law created.

Fugitive Slave Act

• Meant to appease southern states.
• It allowed Southerners to recapture slaves who escaped to the North.
• Harsh punishments for northerners who did not cooperate.

Response to the Compromise of 1850

• Abolitionism grows in the North.
• Abolitionists and Northerners despise the compromise.
• The Fugitive Slave Law allowed runaway slaves (and sometimes free Blacks) to be recaptured and enslaved.
• Northerners form vigilance committees to protect runaways.

Abolitionism

• William Lloyd Garrison formed the American Anti-Slavery Society and published The Liberator.
• Frederick Douglass published The North Star.
• The Grimke Sisters revealed that some southerners opposed slavery.
• In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom's Cabin.
• Uncle Tom's Cabin depicted slavery as a moral evil, not just a political issue.
• Uncle Tom's Cabin became the best selling book of the 19th century.
• Uncle Tom's Cabin inspired many in the North to join the abolitionist cause.
• Many southern banned the book.
• Harriet Tubman made 19 trips South to lead 300 slaves to freedom through the Underground Railroad.
• Harriet Tubman was a conductor on the Underground Railroad,
• Harriet Tubman was a prominent abolitionist and known as "The Moses of her people."