Three Major Causes Of Sectionalism

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Prior to the division of America due to sectionalism, the conclusion of the war of 1812 provided a renewed sense of nationalism for the nation since it resulted in self-sufficient manufacturing. A period of economic expansion ensued, and included advancements in technology and manufacturing as well as the development of the market economy. Although the country was making major progress, other events during the early to mid 1800s revealed sectional differences and forced the north and south farther and farther apart. Three major components of sectionalism were the cotton gin, the fugitive slave act, and the effects of the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Two key advances in technology were invented by the same man; Eli Whitney. The first of the two,
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She was pushed into Anti Slavery by the Fugitive slave act and published her novel two years after the act was passed. Although she had no first hand knowledge of slavery or life in the south, she based it on information she collected from other abolitionists. Popularity for the book was immediate; it sold 10,00 copies in one week, sold 100,000 in total, was translated into twenty languages, and eventually became a popular play in America and Europe. The novel notified the readers of how horrific slavery was by demonstrating how families were separated and how, once captured, the slaves were treated. By experiencing a fictional but realistic point of view, the matter became personal to the readers. The novel revealed how slavery poisoned masters and how, as long as slavery was around, they would continue to be unusually and immortally brutal. The novel added to sectionalism because although the Fugitive Slave Act was still in play, Stowe’s novel brought thousands of people to the abolitionist cause and encouraged Britain to say out of any conflict that arose within the states. Stowe’s novel not only further divided the north and south but it essentially pushed the United States into the throes of a civil …show more content…
Eli Whitney’s inventions created new boundaries for the speed of the production of cotton based materials but also gave the southerners an unjustified reason for slavery. The Fugitive Slave Act, in an attempt to compromise and unify the nation, jeopardized the safety of freedmen and infuriated the abolitionists because of their lack of power against the act. Uncle Tom’s Cabin introduced slavery in a new, horrifying light to the northerners and the British, urging many to support the abolitionist cause. All these pushed the nation into the pandemonium that was the civil war in 1861. In regards to American society, the civil war laid the foundation for the rebirth of America that would include a reunited union and, eventually, the freedom of slaves in all territories of the United

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