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Westward expansion is the idea that our nation should expand from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast. Many believe it was America’s God-given right to overspread and gain control of the entire continent. I believe that this is nationalism because as our union is expanding, we become a larger nation and come together as one.
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The ⅗ Compromise was about the North and the South states. The southern states had large populations and wanted their enslaved people to be counted toward their states overall population size. The northern states had smaller enslaved populations and argued that enslaved people should count towards taxation and not representation. This connects to sectionalism by dividing our nation between the southern states and northern states by disagreeing on many things based on population. -
A lot of Southerners felt the federal government was getting too powerful and putting an impact on their economy by using enslaved people for free or cheap labor. To fix this problem the 10th Amendment was passed, so if the states government powers are not stated in the constitution it is left for the states government to decide. I believe this is sectionalism because instead of the national government gaining more power it is divided into the states, creating a more divided nation. -
The underground railroad was created to help enslaved people escape slavery and live a free life towards the end of the Civil War. An interesting fact about the Underground Railroad was, it was not underground at all it was actually a group of people who helped free enslaved people that were running away from slavery. I believe this is sectionalism because it separated our country into groups, some who agreed with slavery and those who disagreed and wanted to help the enslaved people escape.
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During the Missouri Compromise, they had problems admitting Missouri as a slave state because that would give the slave-holding states a majority in the Senate. The solution was to admit Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. I believe that this is nationalism because this made all states have equal representation, which made it fair and helped with bringing the union together. -
The compromise of 1850 was when the United States addressed slavery by the five parts of the compromise. California was admitted as a free state, popular sovereignty was made in Utah and New Mexico, the fugitive slave law was successfully passed, D.C. bans the slave trade , and Texas received $10 million and created a border with New Mexico. I believe that this is sectionalism by separating our states because there are now different laws that people might not agree with. -
The fugitive slave law was passed by the government to make all slaves that were free, running away, or enslaved forcefully return to their owners. Anyone that tried to help or stop free and enslaved people from being returned was penalized. I believe that this is sectionalism because the people that had governmental power were trying to go back to the way things were by having slaves again to gain more control and have more affordable labor. -
The Secession was the start of the Civil War. This caused a division between the northern and southern states. By this time anti-slavery views had grown significantly in the free states and caused slave states to work together in defense against what they thought was an attack on their institutions.
I believe that this is sectionalism by separating our country into two. One half was the slave-holding states that backed out and the other half kept slavery and stayed a part of the United States. -
During the Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln was one of many who helped free the enslaved. The Emancipation Proclamation declared, specifically, that all slaves are free no matter the circumstances. I believe this is nationalism by making our U.S. citizens become friendly with the natives, instead of always being against them. This helps our country come together and grows our population by counting the non-enslaved people.