Sectionalism

1. Sectionalism The presidential candidates of 1860 tear apart a map of the United States in this period cartoon, symbolizing the forces which threatened to tear the country apart and ultimately led to the Civil War

2. Essential Questions • How did sectionalism help shape the development of the United States Constitution? • What compromises did Congress pass in order to lessen sectional conflicts in the early 19th century? • What roles did John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, and Daniel Webster play in early 19th-century sectional disputes? • Why couldn’t politicians formulate a long-term solution to sectional issues? • How did the issue of sectionalism affect the development of political parties and political theory in the 19th century? • Why did North and South each have such strong misconceptions about the beliefs of the other? • Why did the election of 1860 signal the end of any possible reconciliation between North and South?

3. Sectionalism and the Constitution • Northern delegates: count slaves for taxation, but not representation • Southern delegates: count slaves for representation, not taxation • Resulted in “three-fifths compromise” • Congress agreed not to interfere with slave trade until 1808

4. Ordinance created five new states from Northwest Territory Slavery and involuntary servitude prohibited Did not affect slaves already in Northwest Some still brought slaves to territories Pressure to continue slavery in Northwest Slavery and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 The Northwest Ordinance

5. North and South: Differences The North: • Primarily industrial • Mostly urban and small farms • Supported tariffs and internal improvements • For strong central government • Relied on free labor • Wanted to limit spread of slavery in West The South: • Primarily agricultural • Mostly small farms and plantations • Generally opposed tariffs and internal improvements • For “states’ rights” • Relied on slavery due to smaller population • Supported extending slavery in West

6. Early Sectional Disputes • Hamilton wanted government to pay off states’ war debts; North owed 80 percent of the debts • Compromise with Jefferson and Madison located U.S. capital in South • Controversy over creation of National Bank Alexander Hamilton

7. Early Sectional Disputes (cont.) • Anger over Alien and Sedition Acts led to Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions • Issue of “interposition” of state authority over federal law would continue into the 19th century Thomas Jefferson

8. The Hartford Convention • Held in 1814–1815 by Federalists opposed to War of 1812 • Protested war; called for constitutional revisions; raised concerns about secession • Contended that states could “interpose” their authority to protect against unfair federal laws • Treaty ending the war ended the convention’s concerns “Leap No Leap,” A cartoon satirizing the Hartford Convention

9. Discussion Questions • What sorts of compromises regarding sectionalism did delegates to the Constitutional Convention reach? • What references were made in the Northwest Ordinance regarding slavery? If some could still bring slaves into the Northwest Territory, how effective do you think this provision was? • What aspect of the Hartford Convention raised concerns about secession, and by which region?

10. Slavery in the Louisiana Territory • Louisiana Territory bought from France in 1803 • States admitted along similar rules as the Northwest Ordinance • Missouri applied for statehood in 1817 • Most residents were Southerners and slaveholders • Admission of Missouri as a slave state would upset balance between number of slave and free states