Civil War Sectionalism

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The Civil War was the first war Americans fought on their land and between themselves. Many events led up to the beginning of the Civil War, but the one thing both north and south wanted was equal territory. North wanted the same amount of land, if not more, for the free states while the south wanted the same thing for the slave states. During the 1800s, the free states and slave states began to dispute over new territories. The government attempted to end disputes by making the territories either free or slave depending on the territory previously added to equal out the free and slave states; however, this led to sectionalism between the north and south causing the Civil War. The south thrived in the cotton business, “King Cotton”, thus resulting in slavery. Slavery help built the south and their ideologies. Closer to the Civil …show more content…

The Fugitive Slave Act allowed slaves to be captured more easily than before, and allowed southerners to claim an African American even if they were not apart of slavery beforehand. Many free blacks were pushed into slavery even though they were technically free living in the north. After the Mexican-American War, the government wanted to allow California as a free state and allow Utah and New Mexico to be determined by popular sovereignty. Popular sovereignty allowed the people of the new territory determine if the state would be free or slave. After this resolution, the slave trade became easier for the southerners to receive more slaves for their plantation making the northerners more frustrated. The Kansas Nebraska Act came in conflict with the Missouri Compromise. The south has a chance to increase the usage of slavery in Kansas and Nebraska since popular sovereignty was going to determine the outcome of the statehood.

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