How Did Sectionalism Cause The Civil War

Sectionalism played a major role in causing the Civil War. The North and South became very divided over slavery, which was the main cause of the Civil War. For example, the North wanted to completely abolish slavery because the people believed it was morally wrong. On the other hand, the South wanted to keep slavery because it was the only way their economy would survive, plus they thought they were morally wrong. The split between the two sides began way before the Civil War, over slavery, during the Constitutional Conventions, but eventually grew deeper as the country grew. The North wanted to abolish slavery for many reasons. Three of them came from moral, political, and economic standpoints. Northerners believed that it was morally wrong
Lastly, the North did not need it for their economy because of the Industrial Revolution. They had machines and trains that would help make work faster, so they could produce more. The South is the polar opposite of the North. It became so dependent on slavery that if it were abolished, their economy would fail. Plantations allowed the Southerners to produce cotton, which was the cash crop and the one that slaves would plant and harvest. Their morals weren’t bothered by it, because first, it was their way of life, and second, Southerners believed that black people were inferior because the South wanted power. In Congress, the South began to fear that the North would gain too much power because of the number of new free states. This fear manifests itself in their economy, meaning that if slavery were abolished, there would be no economy, money, or power. Southerners would act similarly to the North by sending people to vote for a new state to be a slave state. (source: pageant, AMSCO) Overall, sectionalism between the North and South played a major role in the development of the Civil War. Both had opposite views on slavery, which was why there was division between the