SECTIONALISM AND SLAVERY

A Divided Union

SECTIONALISM

Loyalty to the individual’s region rather than to the

nation

DIFFERING REGIONS

THE NORTH

Soil and climate favored smaller farmsteads rather

than large plantations

Industry flourished

More abundant natural resources

Many large cities by 1860

Seven out of every eight immigrants settled in the

North

MORE ON THE NORTH

Transportation was easier in the North

Boasted more than two-thirds of the railroad tracks

in the country

More Northerners belonged to the

Whig/Republican Party

Northerners were far more likely to have careers

in business, medicine, or education

THE SOUTH

The fertile soil and warm climate of the South

made it ideal for large-scale farms and crops like

tobacco and cotton

Agriculture was so profitable few Southerners saw

a need for industrial development

Eighty percent of the labor force worked on the

farm

MORE ON THE SOUTH

Although two-thirds of Southerners owned no

slaves at all, by 1860 the South's “peculiar

institution” was tied to the region’s economy and

culture

Large farms or plantations in the South depended

on slave labor

No large cities aside from New Orleans

TRAINS AND LITERACY

Only one-tenth of Southerners lived in urban areas

and transportation between cities was difficult

except by water

Only 35% of the nation’s train tracks were located

in the South

A slightly smaller percentage of white Southerners

were literate than their Northern counterparts

And Southerners were generally Democrats

THE LIFE OF A SLAVE

The Southern economy was based on plantations

Plantations depended on slave labor

Slaves were exploited and forced to labor without

pay

THE COTTON GIN

Eli Whitney’s invention, the cotton gin, increased

the South’s need for slave labor

The cotton gin allowed raw cotton to be cleaned

quickly

Thus making cotton production more profitable

Yet increasing the need for workers as more cotton

could be picked, cleaned, and sold quickly

MISTREATMENT

Slaves were frequently beaten

Lived in poor conditions

The children of slaves were frequently sold away

from their parents

A WIDENING GAP

In the North, some individuals began to view

slavery as immoral

These individuals wanted to abolish slavery

They were known as abolitionists

Southerners viewed slavery differently

Southerners believed that Northern factory owners

mistreated workers more than slave owners

mistreated slaves

AND NEW TERRITORIES

In addition, as the nation gained new territories

and new states prepared to enter the Union,

Americans were divided over the status of these new

states

Would a state enter the Union as a free state or a

slave state?

A BALANCE OF POWER

It is important to remember that the United States

has a bicameral Congress

Due to the Great Compromise, the House of

Representatives is based on each state’s population

Every state has two senators

POWER

More slave states and the representatives of the

slave states would control Congress and thus, the

laws of the nation

More free states and the representatives of the

free states would control Congress, and thus, the

laws of the nation

THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE

The Missouri Compromise allowed Maine to enter

the Union as a free state and Missouri to be

admitted without restrictions on slavery

The area north of the Missouri Compromise line of

36°30′ was to be free of slavery

BUT NOT FOR LONG

But this compromise will not last for long