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9. Prelude to War
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part nine Prelude to War [34.207.137.245] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 14:18 GMT) Americans’ regional differences date from the earliest colonial settlements. Furthermore, such factors as climate; soil; and early political, economic, and religious structure soon formed distinct regional American communities and characters . Such regional diversity helped persuade revolutionary leaders that, in forming a new government, they must retain the colonies-become-states, not merely as departments of the national government, but as sovereign states, governing themselves in all matters not requiring united action. But the balance between local control and national vigor was never easy to maintain. The question continually recurred : Who shall be the final judge of whether a law should be followed or struck down as a violation of the people’s accustomed rights? Most of British history up through the eighteenth century is the story of battles over the answer to this question, and the same could be said of much of the history of the United States up through the Civil War. Regional differences complicated this issue. For example , Southerners saw the federal tariff as a device forcing them to pay higher prices for manufactured goods so that Northern companies would profit. They also saw federal improvements on roads, canals, and bridges as a subsidy for Northern interests that would profit from easier trade routes. Northerners, for their part, complained of federal actions favoring the South. Most important in that area was legislation concerning slavery. During the seventeenth century, an increasing number of black Africans were brought to the American colonies as slaves. At first, they joined white indentured servants who had purchased passage to the New World by selling their labor for a set number of years. But the distinction between someone working off a debt and someone condemned to a life of involuntary service, with his descendants condemned to the same fate, made this coexistence difficult. Further, Northern colonies had less use for slavery than those in the South, owing to their relative lack of large farms where slave labor could be used most effectively—and on which slaves could most effectively be kept as a separate, subordinate group. Thus, slavery increasingly became a Southern institution . And Southerners insisted that this institution, and its importance to the South, be respected in the North. Constitutional provisions counting slaves as part-persons for purposes of representation and laws committing all states to help find and hand over runaway slaves were the most obvious attempts to protect Southern interests. More systemic problems arose from America’s increasing population and territory. These factors caused concern over how best to maintain a balance of power and interests between slave-holding and non-slave-holding sections of the country , particularly as new territories in the West were opened to settlement and statehood. Changes in laws regarding fugitive slaves, the ability of residents of American territories to choose whether to allow slavery, and regional boundaries all were attempts to keep the United States together in one union. But diverging visions of what kind of life a good American should expect and lead made such compromises difficult and short-lived. Moreover, disagreements regarding the inherently difficult system of competing sovereignities rendered debates over national power and regional character stronger , more divisive, and, in the end, explosive. ...