Sectionalism Flashcards
The North
An expanding railroad system and industrialization in the North resulted in many large factories. As a result many people moved to cities to work in factories. The factories (mills) were successful as long as they had cotton from the South.
The South
Because of the South’s geography and climate, it was mainly an
agricultural society with small farms and plantations. The cotton gin increased the value of growing cotton which created the need for more slaves. Cities in the South were small as a result of most people living on small farms.
States Rights
The 10th amendment allows the states to have certain powers that were not given to the Federal government in the Constitution. Many Southerners believed that each state, and not the federal government, should make laws concerning slavery and tariffs. John C. Calhoun advocated the Theory of Nullification which believed that each state had the right to not obey federal laws and even secede from the U.S. if the state wanted to.
The Compromise of 1850
California wanted to join the U.S. as a free state, but Southerners abhorred that idea. Henry Clay created the Compromise of 1850 that allowed California to enter the U.S. as a free state while also passing a tighter Fugitive Slave Law to make the South happy. The Fugitive Slave Law allowed southerners to hunt down escaped slaves.
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Senator Douglas convinced congress to pass a law that allowed
people within a territory to vote on the issue of slavery. As a result thousands, both for and against slavery, moved to Kansas to vote. Violence erupted between the two groups in what came to be called “Bleeding Kansas.”
The Republican Party
After the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the Republican Party was created to stop slavery from spreading from the states that already allowed slavery. In 1858, Abraham Lincoln (Republican) expressed that he felt slavery was morally wrong when he debated Senator Douglas.
Dred Scott vs. Sandford
Dred Scott was a slave who was taken by his owner to the North then back into the South. Scott sued for his freedom since at one point he was on ‘free ground’ in the North.
Chief Justice Roger Taney ruled:
Slaves of African descent are not citizens and cannot sue and slaves were property, and the government had no right to take property away from its citizens.
Therefore the government would allow slavery to spread.
Revolts
Nat Turner led other slaves in a violent rebellion that killed over 50 whites. Hundreds of slaves, including Turner were killed, and whites passed harsher slave codes that were strict rules slaves had to follow. John Brown captured Harpers Ferry, in hopes slaves would escape and join him in rebellion. The rebellion was quickly crushed and Brown was executed.
Lincoln Elected
Abraham Lincoln was elected as the 16th president of the U.S. during the Election of 1860. Because Lincoln was a Republican and against the spread of slavery, South Carolina and six other states seceded from the Union. During Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address, he stated that being a part of the Union was perpetual and no state could legally choose to secede (leave).
Confederate States of America
Formed in February 1861 by the 7 states that left the U.S.
Jefferson Davis was president. During Davis’ Inaugural Address, he argued that the Declaration of Independence gives people the right to abolish a government when it stops working for the reason it was founded.
The Civil War Begins
The Federal government’s Fort Sumter was located in South Carolina and could not get supplies after South Carolina seceded. Lincoln ordered a Union ship to peacefully deliver supplies to the fort. In April 1861, Confederate forces opened fire on the fort starting the Civil War. After the fighting at Fort Sumter, 4 more states joined the Confederacy.
