Sectionalism tense; the great sectionalism between the slaveholding and in churches. non-slaveholding states began to overshadow differences between East and West, between commercial and agricultural states. On all questions involving the status of slavery the North and South each tended to become solid. The moral aspect which the question had assumed naturally made it a difficult one for those churches which were strong in North and South alike. As antislavery sentiment grew in the North, northern members wished to place their churches on record against slavery and to forbid, at least church officers, to hold slaves. Southern members, conscious that they were not responsible for the existence of slavery, resented the inference that they were sinning in holding slaves, and adopted the rising southern belief in slavery as divinely ordained. During the forties the Baptist and Methodist churches divided, the Methodist ultimately into three branches representing northern, southern, and conservative border state opinion. The Presbyterians, in 1850, practically separated, though they retained their united organization until the Civil War. Calhoun wrote in 1834: "I cannot but think the course the Western Baptist and Methodist preachers took, in reference to the division of their churches, has done much to expel Cassius Clay [a Kentucky abolitionist] and correct publick opinion in that quarter." The national parties, being less sensitive to moral questions than the churches, still resisted the dividing influence, but their cohesion would be put to a severe test if a question should enter politics which tended to bring into conflict the material interests of the slaveholding and non-slaveholding states. Each section would feel justified in fighting to the extremity when not only its well-being, but a moral principle, was at stake.

Rioting.

It was ominous that a generation so stirred by profound emotions was also to a considerable degree lawless and given to violence. In the West the pioneer spirit pervaded society, firearms were commonly carried, and law was little

observed if it were contrary to the public wish. Settlers went where they wished, in either United States or foreign territory, and did much what they wished. In the South unauthorized force did much to suppress abolitionist propaganda. In the North the "Underground Railroad" was legally criminal, yet was conducted by the most reputable men and women. Religious riots were common in New York and occurred in Massachusetts. In Rhode Island, where the old charter of 1663 still served as a constitution and was unamendable, dissatisfaction took the form of revolution in 1842. This movement, known as the "Dorr War," was unsuccessful and rather amusing from a military point of view, yet it brought about the adoption of a new and more democratic constitution in 1843. In New York the "antirent" riots, between 1840 and 1852, brought to an effectual end the feudal features of landholding under the old Dutch patroon grants along the Hudson. In 1853 the Erie pie men caused almost a suspension of traffic for two months at that important point, because the Lake Shore Railroad attempted to lay its tracks along Pennsylvania's Lake Erie coast, to connect its New York and Ohio lines. Philadelphia, unwilling to see a through connection established between New York and Chicago, supported the local authorities who wished to profit by the change of passengers and goods necessitated by the differing gauge of the tracks. In this case Pennsylvania was forced to yield to pressure from the West, and at length a standard gauge track was laid through Erie connecting the roads of New York with those of Ohio. The use of force became a common method of advancing causes and of enforcing public opinion. It was viewed with tolerance, was often resorted to by the most respected members of the community, and was often successful. This customary appeal from lawful to illegal and physical methods must be reckoned with as among the significant tendencies of the period.

Sources.

Intellectual activity and characteristics.

Abolitionist movement.

Slavery and the proslavery movement.

Slavery and the Consti

tution.

use.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

Sources for the subjects treated in this chapter, with the excep tion of those relating to slavery, are not really available for class Among the best on the abolitionist side is Recollections of our Anti-slavery Conflict, by S. J. May; on the slavery side, The Pro-slavery Argument, by W. Harper. The Papers of J. C. Calhoun (Am. Hist. Assoc., Report, 1899, vol. II) illustrate the intimate thought of the South on the subject; the Life of W. L. Garrison, by his sons, gives much source material illustrating the abolitionist sentiment. On labor conditions, J. R, Commons, American Industrial Society.

Hart, A. B., Slavery and Abolition. Levermore, C. H., Rise of Metropolitan Journalism (Am. Hist. Review, VI, 446-465). McMaster, United States, V, 131-155; 343-372. Sparks, E. E., Expansion of the United States, chs. XXVI-XXVIII. Tucker, G., Progress of the United States, ch. V. Wendell, B., Literary History of America, 233-357. White, The Book of Daniel Drew, 28-113. Callender, G. S., Economic History, ch. XIV. Ely, R. T., Labor Movement, 7-60. Simons, A. M., Social Forces in Wright, C. D., Industrial Evolution,

American History, ch. XVII.
202-269.

Frothingham, O. B., G. Smith. Garrisons' Garrison. Hart, A. B., Chase. Holst, von, United States, II, 80-120. Rhodes, J. F., United States, I, 38-75. Siebert, W. H., The Underground Railroad. Smith, T. C., The Liberty and Free-Soil Parties in the Northeast, 1-104.

Allen, W. H., and Crozer, J. P., African Colonization (Philadelphia, 1863). Ambler, C. H., Sectionalism in Virginia, 185-202. Brown, W. G., The Lower South in American History, ch. I, secs. I and 2; ch. II. Locke, M. S., Anti-slavery in America from the Introduction of African Slavery to the Prohibition of the Slave Trade. Goodell, W., The American Slave Code. Helper, H. R., The Impending Crisis. Nieboer, H. J., Slavery as an Industrial System. Olmstead, F. L., The Cotton Kingdom. Rhodes, United States, I, ch. IV.

On the Constitution and slavery: Curtis, G. T., Constitutional History, II, 201-226. Lalor, J. J., Cyclopedia, III, 725-738.

Rhodes, J. F., United States, I, ch. I. Story, Commentaries, secs. 1915-1927.

On petition and free speech: Adams, J. Q., Memoirs, IX, X. Benton, T. H., Thirty Years' View, I, ch. XXXI; II, chs. XXXIII, XXXVI, XXXVII. Calhoun, J. C., Works, V, 190208. Curtis, G. T., James Buchanan, I, 319-357. Holst, von, Calhoun, 124-150; 165-184. Seward, W. H., J. Q. Adams, chs. XII-XIV. Story, J., Commentaries, secs. 1880-1895.

On diplomacy and interstate controversies: Du Bois, E. B., The Suppression of Slave Trade, secs. 68-73. Holst, von, United States, II, 312-329. Schuyler, American Diplomacy, ch. V. Stephens, A. H., War between the States, II, colloquy XIV.

Cheyney, E. P., Anti-rent Agitation in New York. Cutler, J. E., Unrest. Lynch-Law, ch. IV. King, D., Dorr. Murray, D., Anti-rent Episode in the State of New York (Am. Hist. Assoc., Report, I, 37– 96). Mowry, A. M., The Dorr War. Rhodes, J. F., United States, III, ch. I. Smith, T. C., Parties and Slavery, 1-109.

This period is particularly rich in literature illustrative of its Illustrative literature. manners and customs. Most important are the works of Mark Twain, especially Huckleberry Finn, giving a picture of life along the Mississippi, and of Bret Harte, as the Luck of Roaring Camp, etc., on life in California and the mines. F. Parkman's Oregon Trail is the best account of the plains. W. A. Butler, in Nothing to Wear; and G. W. Curtis, in Prue and I, give somewhat contrasting views of New York. Of course, H. B. Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin is of vital interest from many points of view.

Tyler and

Texas.

CHAPTER XIX

TERRITORIAL EXPANSION AND SLAVERY

THE question most likely to develop the growing sectionalism between North and South, and to rend the parties into northern and southern factions, was that of territorial expansion. Had it not been for the rising division over slavery, the course of the expansion movement would have been smooth, and Texas would have been annexed in 1837. Many in the North believed that the whole Texan situation had resulted from a conspiracy to add one or more slave states to the Union. While this was not the case, many in the South did desire annexation to strengthen slavery in the Senate. As both parties were strong in both sections, the party managers had endeavored to avoid the question, and the leading candidates of both parties were still in 1844 committed against it. Here lay the opportunity of Tyler, the irregular candidate. He thoroughly believed in annexation, and determined, from the moment he succeeded Harrison, that it should be the work of the administration. Delayed by the presence of Webster, who took no interest in the matter, he pressed for action as soon as Webster left the cabinet. Under Upshur, who ultimately succeeded Webster as Secretary of State, a treaty was arranged, but just as it was on the point of completion, a sad accident, the explosion of a gun on a new gunboat, the Princeton, caused the death of Upshur and other members of the administration. The task of selecting a successor was a very delicate one. The treaty had as yet been kept secret, it was sure to excite political opposition from both parties, and it was important that the new