Sectional Crisis
Sectional Crisis occurred in the 1850s when the United States was started to experience sectional differences about slavery (Locke et al. 2019). During this time the differences between the Northern and Southern state grew wider as the leaders debated on whether slavery should be expanded to western territories while on the other hand criticism about slavery increased in other free states. The western slavery expansion resulted in problems for the United States. Battles emerged over the westward slavery expansion and over the federal government’s role in protecting the interests of the slaveholders. Thus, the sectional crisis resulted in battles over slavery expansion to the western territories and also battles over the federal government to protect the interests of the slaveholders
One of the main reason that resulted in disputes is that the Northern settlers felt that slavery in the Southern state suppressed the wages and also stole land that could be used by white poor Americans to enhance their economy (Locke et al. 2019). On the other hand, the southerners were in fear that without slavery expansion, the abolitionists would dominate their areas leading to rebellion race war. There was a constant resistance from slave men and women which only required a strong proslavery federal government to solve the disputes.
After long decades the North and South engaged in fear that the opposite section of the government had seized control of the government. This specifically resulted in a bloody war. Therefore, there was a compromise that occurred in the 1850s intending to solve some of the divisional differences, however, it did not succeed in solving some of the problems that resulted from slavery in some part of the nation. Some of the compromises that were formed in 1850 are fugitive slave Act of 1850, slavery in the Territories and 1859 raid on Herpes Ferry. These were meant to settle the dispute that resulted between the northern and Southern State.
The fugitive slave Act of 1850 was meant to empower the federal officials to assist the owners that sleeked to reclaim the escaped slaves (Locke et al. 2019). This is because, before this Act, many enslaved men and women ran away and avoided being captured and returned to their owners.1859 raid on Herpes Ferry happened when John Brown and antislavery slipped across the border of Maryland and Virginia and settled in the United States. The main goal of brown was to arm the slavery men and start a campaign that would lead to slavery abolition. Another problem that resulted from the sectional crisis was slavery in the Territories. This happened as settlement at great plains increases rapidly in the 1850s even after many people moved to Texas and other territories following the Mexica war in 1840s.
As the Northern progressively eliminated human slavery, the enslaved men and women headed to the North using the underground rails of hidey-hole and safe houses. The northerners and southerners greatly disagreed on the case of the federal government capturing and returning the freedom seekers (Locke et al. 2019). The Northern enticed to their states’ rights not to capture the slaves that ran away while on the other hand the southern wanted a nationwide commitment to slavery. This is because the enslaved workers remained useful to the nation‘s economy. They greatly improved the southern plantation economy and they also provided raw materials to the North. Notably, these differences remained to be the main issue of concern of American politics, specifically as the Unitec States continued to expand.
In conclusion, the sectional crisis resulted from the divisional differences that erupted between the Northern and Southern states in the United States. The main dispute was over an argument on whether slavery should expand to the western territories and battles over the federal government to protect the interests of the slaveholders. Some of the problems that resulted in sectional crisis are the fugitive slave Act, the slavery that occupied the territories and the 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry.
Works Cited
Locke, Joseph L., and Ben Wright, eds. The American Yawp: A Massively Collaborative Open US History Textbook, Vol. 1: To 1877. Stanford University Press, 2019.