Sectionalism Essay

The United States has always been a nation that has been segregated. The Nation was

founded on segregation and has long remained a part of its history. Especially during the

Antebellum Period, the United States were not as united as one would think. Sure, each of the

states that existed in that period were united as one whole country. However, each state instead,

based on its location, was more segregated than ever. The states became victims of sectionalism

which was how the division of different lifestyles, customs, and social structures of different

groups living in the Northern and Southern territories of the United States developed.

Sectionalism was also the way Americans began to feel more loyal to their respective regions …show more content…
The Northern States were built on industries such as factories and the

free labor it produced. All types of people such as men, women, and even children worked in

factories for little to nothing wages. The hours were excruciatingly long in often harsh working

conditions. Millions of Americans were these workers in the North which helped the cities they

lived in flourish. Many areas were slums where often different cultured groups and immigrants

would live. The living conditions were harsh as well as sanitation barely existed and living

spaces were severely limited. However, this was mostly the lower and middle working classes.

The higher class contained wealth businessmen, factory owners, and entrepreneurs. The view on

slaves in the North wasn’t as harsh compared to the South due to slaves not being as profitable.

The Southern States were mainly based and focused on agriculture. There weren’t as

many cities as the North had and not as many factories either. Instead of factories, the Southern

States had plantations which sustained its plantation based economy. The plantations consisted of

large farms and huge lands. Slaves were more important in this setting for the landowners …show more content…
Slaves were the lowest social class in the

south. They had no rights and could be sold at any given time. Each slave’s family were split up

and did a lot of plantation work on various plantations.

Slavery influenced the racism among Southerners which began to distinguish the South

from the North. As the North did not have as many slaves to worry about as the south, they did

not feel as much resentment towards them. Tensions between the North and the South developed

from this. The North came up with an idea to include slaves as part of the population. The South

then argued against the North concerning that slaves should not be considered citizens. The

North and the South compromised on this topic by creating the three fifths compromise which

stated that for every three out of five slaves, they would be considered a citizen and part of the

population. As for the south, they lynched and basically tortured slaves. Slaves were treated very

poorly with as little to no respect as possible. Southerners developed this resentment and hatred

for slaves and created the Ku Klux Klan to partake in these lynchings. Slaves could not catch a

break or even be