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Abolitionism
The goal of the 19th-century movement known as abolitionism was to abolish slavery in the United States. With the North supporting abolitionism and the South resisting it, it became an important contributor to sectionalism. As it highlighted the conflicts between the nation's vital ideas and the reality of slavery, abolitionism also posed a threat to nationalism. In the end, the campaign helped the American Civil War to start. -
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Westward Expansion
America began to expand and explore new areas in the 1800s. The move of settlers and pioneers from the east coast to the West was known as "westward expansion." The Louisiana Purchase and the Gold Rush, for example, supported this expansion. It helped nationalism by helping the citizens of America come together under one common goal, Manifest Destiny. It was the idea that it was America's destiny to expand west. -
3/5th Compromise
The 3/5th Compromise was an agreement reached between the North and South U.S. in 1787 while the U.S. Constitution was being written. It stated that for the purpose of deciding representation in Congress and taxation, those in slavery would be treated as three-fifths of a person. The struggle the nation was having with the subject of slavery was represented in this compromise, which was a major source of tension between the Northern and Southern states, A.K.A., sectionalism. -
States' Rights
States' rights is the concept that states have independent control over their affairs, separate from the federal government, and has been a longstanding source of dispute in the US political landscape, impacting the economy through taxation, regulation, and resource distribution. -
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The Underground Railroad
Enslaved African Americans used the Underground Railroad, a system of secret routes and safe houses, to escape to freedom in the North or Canada throughout the 19th century. It was a reaction to the sectionalism, common at the time, which divided North and South on problems like slavery. A good example of the rising nationalism in the North, where many abolitionists worked to abolish slavery because they thought it was morally wrong, was the Underground Railroad. -
Missouri Compromise
In order to keep the balance of power between the free and slave states in the United States, an agreement known as the Missouri Compromise was made in 1820. To ensure an equal number of free and slave states, Maine and Missouri were both admitted as free states. The agreement also drew a line at 36°30' N latitude, designating it as the boundary between free and slave states. -
Compromise of 1850
In 1850, the US Congress made a set of laws called the Compromise of 1850 to settle arguments about slavery in new areas that the US had taken from Mexico. They made New Mexico and Utah states where the people living there could decide if they wanted slavery or not. This allowed California to join the US as a free state because the government needed to keep the balance between free and slave states. There was also a new law that made runaway, or escaped slaves, to go back to their owners. -
Fugitive Slave Law
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, passed by Congress on Sep.18, 1850, was a part of the Comp. of 1850. The law ordered that slaves be returned to their owners, even if they were in a free state. The law also granted the federal government the power to find, recapture, and punish fugitive slaves. The Act placed the anti-slavery North against the pro-slavery South, highlighting the regional issues and the threat to national unity. Sectionalism increased as a result. -
Emancipation Act
During the American Civil War, President Lincoln issued an executive order known as the Emancipation Act. It said that all slaves in the states "shall then, thenceforward, and forever be free." However, because it only applied to territories outside of Union power, no slaves were instantly freed. It promoted sectionalism because in the South they were against it and the Northern states were for it.