Slavery Was the Main Reason for the Hostility Between the North and the South. How Far Do You Agree with This Statement? Explain Your Answer.

Slavery was the main reason for the hostility between the North and the South. How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer.

Slavery was part of the hostility between the North and the South. This was not the main reason though. Many other factors played a role. Who was to decide the feature of slavery? Should it be the Federal Government or the State Government? Question like these play an essential part in order to answer this question.

As the 13 colonies were established, diversities already started to appear. The South was focused on cops and tobacco, known as "Cash Crops". In order to produce these, large labor was necessary. The South bought slaves from Africa in order to fulfill these labor intensive jobs. The North on the other hand grew industrialized. They build factories all over their territory. With the invention of the Whitney's Cotton Gin, it was easier to farm the fields. With this invention, time was saved and more cotton and tobacco could be produced. But in order for this to succeed, more slaves were needed. This drew to tension between the North and the South as the North was against slavery.

As America expanded, more states joined the union. In the time of 1819, there were 22 states in the union: 11 free and 11 slave. As Missouri applied as a slave state, a big problem was created. Should a joining state be free or slave? If there was a tip in balance, it would also tip the balance in congress. This meant that if either side would establish majority, slavery either could be made illegal or legal. As a result of this, a compromise was established. Congressman James T. Tallmadge introduced an amendment. This was known as the Tallmadge Amendment and was the following:

1. All black children who would be born in the new state of Missouri would automatically became free when they reached the age of 25.

2. No new slaves would be allowed into Missouri.

This implied that all slaves in Missouri and elsewhere would gradually be made free. But most important it meant that "Congress had the right to legislate about a state's future attitudes towards slavery." The Federal Government would have the power to decide the future in slavery. This is one of the major factors that lead to the hostility between the North and the South.

This lead to heavy discussion because it would portray the Federal Government as superior. After a long discussion, another compromise was formed. It was known as the Missouri Compromise. The compromise said that:

1. Maine wanted to joint eh Union and so it was possible to balance the admission of free Maine with slave Missouri.

2. Senator Thomas of Illinois then suggested his own amendment that the line of latitude, 36o 30' would be the basis of all future decisions.

All states above this line would be free and all states bellow would be slave. Even though this did not ease up the rivalries between the North and the South, the South felt very comfortable over the future of slavery and totally focused on slavery now. The demand for slaves was never higher after this (1820).

The Missouri Compromise was not always followed precisely. Only thirty years later, Nebraska wanted to join. At that time, Nebraska was a enormous are. Senator Douglas believed that Nebraska itself should decide whether it wanted to join as a free or slave state. It is clearly above the 36o 30' line and no discussion should have taken place. He suggested that the area of Nebraska should be split up into two states, Nebraska and Kansas. Kansas would be