Northern Western and Southern Sectionalism

The interests of the different regions, causing sectionalism, created a split in the party systems and among the people in each region. The debates about the Mexican War and its aftermath reflected the interests of all three sectional groups including the New Englanders, westerners, and southerners. These three groups each had their own ideas and interests and the debates caused great controversy as well as concessions in order to accommodate more groups of people. This period of expansion was one of the most prosperous for the United States of America as well as the most ridiculed. The expansion theory or policy of Manifest Destiny played a key role in the justification of all decisions. It stated that the expansion of White Americans across the continent was God-given and inevitable.

The Northern territories of the United States were anti-expansion. The New Englanders believed that strongly opposed the expansion of slavery. The fear of new states becoming slave states dominated the debate from the Northern side. The Whig party debated over the addition of Texas in order to preserve the conservation of power in the Senate. Adding any slavery states to the Senate would upset the even balance. The Northerners also argued that the Polk's War was unconstitutional and a forced action of military power. The Senate also agreed that every state on after would be free of slavery such as California. The Gold Rush in California was one of the fastest growing periods of population growth in terms of western territories. The population grew from 11,000 in 1848 to 100,000 in 1852.

The westerners of the time period included those residing in Texas and California, along with other territories like Oregon. They all wanted freedom. Texas asked for annexation as it became larger and larger which son turned into the Mexican-American War. Texas produced a very high profit of $500,000 from cotton and it seemed inevitable that the state would become a slave state. Most people from Texas were hand-picked by the Austin family and did not express any intentions to become a leave state or not. All they pleaded was for annexation and to be part of the American Union. The annexation came under heavy opposition form the Northern Party using slavery as a motive for annexation which would have upset the Senate balance. The Democratic Southern party supported the war and wanted the state to become a slave state to increase legislature power. California was hit with a population boom due to Gold Rush. The mining camps were set

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