THE POLITICS OF
SECTIONALISM
From Jefferson to Davis
THOMAS JEFFERSON
 Jefferson Republican Party view:
 sovereignty of the states
 Interpretive debate over the Constitution
 “strict constructionism”
ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS (1798)


Federalist Party: believed necessary to protect
national security.
Republican Party: viewed as an infringement of
constitutional rights and threat to political
opposition.
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions (1798)
– Nullification crisis
– Where did sovereignty lie?
– Are we national or state citizens?
THE NAPOLEONIC WARS
United States a Neutral Nation during
the European Wars but still saw effects
of the fighting
At issue: Impressment
Chesapeake Affair, 1807
1807 Embargo Act
THE WAR HAWKS ARRIVE- 1810
Henry Clay- Kentucky
John C. Calhoun- South Carolina
Felix Grundy- Tennessee
MAJOR RIVERS,
ROADS, AND CANALS, 1825–1860
THE MISSOURI
COMPROMISE, 1820–1821
ANDREW JACKSON
Intense distrust of the Eastern
“establishment”
 His heart and soul was “with the plain
folk”

Believed that common men were capable
of uncommon achievements

Andrew Jackson’s presidency was
instrumental in bringing politics into the center
focus of many American lives.

Promised a more democratic system of
politics for the common man

Key Principles: Majority Rule, Limited
Power of the National Government,
Aggressive Use of the Presidential Veto

NULLIFICATION DEBATES
John C. Calhoun (South Carolina)
Vice President
Senator
Who decides if a law is
constitutional?
Jackson threatened to use force
against SC when it tried to nullify
the federal tariff.
In response to John C. Calhoun’s
theory of nullification nationalists
advanced the idea of the
perpetual union.
THE PETTICOAT AFFAIR
THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS
•Mexico feared a hostile takeover by
the United States to buy the territory
•To strengthen border areas the
Mexican government offered land
at reduced costs to Americans who
would convert to Catholicism
•1836- Texas Revolution
MAJOR BATTLES OF
THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR
The War’s Effects on
Sectional Conflict
The Wilmot Proviso
The Election of 1848
The California Gold Rush
THE COMPROMISE OF 1850
BLEEDING KANSAS
Key Terms: Popular Sovereignty and Free Soil
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT,1854
THE ELECTION OF 1860
SECESSION