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slavery and sectional attitudes
DBQ #5: Slavery and Sectional Attitudes, 1830-1860

During the mid 1800’s many Americans began to have mix feelings over the issue of slavery. Many northern Americans believed that slavery was morally wrong and that it was an evil. Southerners on the other hand believed it was a good for the economy as well as for commerce. This great split of attitudes between the north and the south eventually led to threat of the civil war. The North saw the issue of slavery as an evil. They believed that slavery was an impurity that became accustomed to life in America, in which made other systems of commerce forgotten. In a nation where freedom and equality is given, the property owning of people is wrong. In Hinton Helper’s “The Impending Crisis,” Hinton stresses the economic effects of slavery to the U.S. He goes on suggesting that the U.S cannot depend on only slavery and the staple crops to pull the nation forward. Especially, if the nation wants to become a great political nation, it should seek other means for obtaining wealth. (Document E). In every way Hinton tried to impose the idea that the north can also provide much commerce like the south. There was no need for slavery to continue in a growing society where the nation can do more than just produce cotton. The north was able to produce and manufacture products without the use of slaves, why couldn’t the south? That’s what many northerners believed. Though if abolitionist got their way in ending slavery then there would be an end to the cultivation of cotton. The country cannot go on cultivating such a ‘prized’ crop without the hands of slaves. It was an impossible thought for the south. If labor work didn’t continue in the south then the south would fall. (Document B). Abraham Lincoln’s speech in Illinois (Document D) warned all Americans that if the exploitation of slaves for a profit continued then the nation may dwindle and maybe even their freedom. The use of slaves in the U.S went against our

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