Conflict within the United States

In 1850, the United States was a large country, full of contrasts. New England and the Middle Atlantic states were the centers of finance, trade, shipping, and manufacturing. Their products included lumber, machinery, and textiles. Southern states had many farms that used slave labor to grow tobacco, sugar, and cotton.
In 1819, Missouri asked to become a state. Northerners were against this because 10,000 slaves lived there. Because the Constitution allowed each new state to elect two senators, new states could change the political balance between “free” and “slave” states.

 In the following years, each side held its beliefs more strongly. Many Northerners thought slavery was wrong.

In 1860, however, one-third of the total population of slave states was not free.

A young politician from Illinois believed that this was not a local issue, but a national one. His name was Abraham Lincoln. He agreed that the South could keep its slaves, but he fought to keep slavery out of the territories

“This government cannot endure permanently half-slave and half-free.” ( Abraham Lincoln.)