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Period: to
Timespan for Rise of Sectionalism
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Congress Abolished African Slave Trade
Congress abolished the African Slave trade in 1808. Although the slave trade was abolished the expansion of slavery within the country continued. The southerns began to support slavery more aggressively after the cotton boom. The North was against slavery while the south was for it. Also, the West began to agree and side with the South. -
Bank Charter Expires
Being the Secretary of Treasury during his time, Alexander Hamilton had pushed to create a national bank, and had succeeded. However, the charter for his national bank expired in 1811 raising controversy toward if the charter should be renewed or not. Some found a bank unconstitutional and not worth having. On the other hand, some saw a national bank as important and useful in building the economy with investments and stocks. Ultimately the vote resulted in the expiration of the National Bank. -
Hartford Convention
Before news of the treaty of Ghent reached American, a group of New England Federalists met in Massachusetts. The first time was to protest the War of 1812, which was highly favored in the West, and to propose revisions to the Constitution. However the second meeting took a more radical turn when extremists proposed a New England Confederacy. Luckily this secession never happened but it certainly would not be the last time parts of the country threatened to secede. -
Depression of 1819
In 1819 a financial crisis swept across the country. The growth in trade following the war came to a halt. Unemployment mounted, banks failed, mortgages were foreclosed, and agricultural prices fell by half. This economic depression brought division over questions of banking and tariffs. -
American System
[Approximated Date] In the early 1820s, Henry Clay, a politician from Kentucky, introduced the American system, which was a plan to implement protective tariffs, a national bank, and federal subsidies for railroad and canal construction. Clay, despite being a slave-owner, was adamantly against slavery, and hoped that this system could help to remove slavery from the United States. This idea helped further the divides between the North and the South about slaves. -
Missouri Compromise
The compromise brought the issue of slavery to the sectionalists debate. Northerns wanted Missouri admitted as a free state while Southerns wanted Missouri admitted as a slave state. Both parts of the country wanted the upper hand in the senate. In the end the country avoided an all out civil war with the compromise stating that Missouri would be admitted as a slave state, Maine would be admitted as a free state, and slavery would be outlawed in the Louisiana Purchase north of 36°300' latitude. -
1824 Presidential Election
The election of 1824 was fought over sectional ideals. Since nobody gained the majority of electoral votes, the election was taken to the House of Representatives who chose John Quincy Adams as the next president. While Adams pronounced himself a Democratic-Republican he really acted like a Federalist. Sectional tensions began to show when he started to push for a "Tariff of Abominations", plating the north against the south. -
Tariff of Abominations passed by Congress
New industries in the North wanted a tariff to protect their goods against foreign competitors. The South was strongly against such tariffs as it would make their manufactured goods expensive without reaping any benefits, because they had less industry. In the end the West and North united against the South, and the tariff was passed in Congress. -
American Civil War
The American Civil War (sometimes called the 'War of Northern Aggression') was the peak of U.S. sectionalism. After years of tensions between the North and South, most notably those resulting from the issue of whether or not slavery should be permissible in United States, various southern States seceded and formed the Confederate States of America. The war would later begin with the Battle of Fort Sumter and end with Lee, a Confederate general, surrendering in 1865 at the Appomattox Court House.
