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The Invention of the Cotton Gin
Before the cotton gin was invented by Eli Whitney, slavery in the U.S. was actually decreasing because the profitability of crops slaves were used for was becoming less and less profitable. The cotton gin made it so these crops were very profitable through slavery again because the amount of product that was produced/efficiency was greatly increased. This caused sectionalism in the U.S. up until the Civil War, because slavery was the main source of controversy between the north and south. -
Turner Rebellion/Virginia Slave Debates
Nat Turner's 1832 slave rebellion that killed 57 white people in one night caused huge sectionalism in the U.S. This is because it was said by John C. Calhoun that slavery was a positive good in the U.S. that benefitted slaves. The rebellion showed that in reality, it was completely the opposite. In the Virginia slave debates, the north argued that slaves should be emancipated to stop justifiable rebellions, while the south believed slavery should be even harsher to prevent future rebellions. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Act was a part of the Compromise of 1850, the North wanted another free state, and the South wanted the Fugitive Slave Act. This made it so plantation owners could track down and return any runaway slaves that had fled to another state. Just an accusation was enough to prove an African American was a runaway slave, and the descriptions were very vague. This made it so plantation owners pretty much had unlimited slaves, adding to sectionalism caused by slavery in the U.S. -
Birth of Republican Party
Sectionalism was mainly caused by disagreements on the status of slavery in the US between political parties. One of the main parties of this time was the Republican party, which was created by former members of the Whig party in direct response to the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Republicans wanted to stop the westward expansion of slavery in the US, which Southern Democrats were in direct opposition to. The butting heads of these parties were a large source of sectionalism and later led to succession. -
Dred Scott V. Sanford Case
Dred Scott was a slave in Missouri that was sent to Illinois, he argued that since he was moved into a free state he was a free man. He appealed to the Supreme Court who ruled that because Scott was a black man, he was not an American Citizen and could not sue in court. The Missouri Compromise and Northwest Ordinance of 1787 were also ruled unconstitutional. The case showed many people of power in the US were pro slavery, and the US was still very divided on the topic of African American rights. -
John Brown's Raid at Harper's Ferry
John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry was an abolitionist attempt to take over the US arsenal at Harper's Ferry. 22 men attacked the arsenal but were killed in battle or hanged. Brown himself survived but was later hanged. "The guilty crimes of this nation will only be solved by blood, only a civil war will end the institution of slavery." were his last words. He knew that bloodshed would be the only way to solve the slavery problem in the US, and the event opened the eyes of American people too. -
Lincoln Wins 1860 Election
The country knew that Lincoln was against the spread of slavery in the United States and wanted it abolished. So, when he won, after being absent from the ballot in 10 slave states, the south was outraged. This acted as the straw that broke the camel's back as to the relationship between the North and South. The Crittenden Compromise was suggested to keep sanity in the country, but many slave states soon seceded from the nation. This literally split the country and directly led to the civil war.