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 At the time of the Mexican War and after, the country was divided because of their sectional interest. The New Englanders, westerners, and southerners all had views about the topic of slavery. As the U.S. started to settle in new states across the western area, debates about whether or not the state would have slavery or be free got very heated. All of the actions and decisions during the Mexican War and after showed the New Englanders, westerners, and southerners sectional interests between the 1845 and 1855.

 The north and the south of the U.S. were rivals at the time. Leading up to the war, the north had been gaining economic control over the south. The sectional tensions between the north and south fueled the rivalry even more. The south used slaves for cotton and other crops. The plantations that the slaves worked on were the main source of economic income in the south. New England had gained economic growth because of manufacturing, making the south feel like they needed the slaves more to keep up. The north believed that slavery was unconstitutional and morally wrong. Sectionalism between the north and the south would later drive them apart.  The U.S. continued the move westward and the New Englanders and the southerners struggled for control over the states on whether they were a slavery state or not. In 1819, Missouri became a state. The south wanted Missouri to become a slave state and the New Englanders wanted Missouri to be a free state. Henry Clay came up with the Missouri Compromise which allowed Missouri to become a slave state pleasing the southerners. The Missouri Compromise also said that Maine would become its own state. Maine became a free state pleasing the New Englanders. The westerners really had no opinion in the debate over the western states becoming free or slave states. This kept the rivalry between the north and the south at a tie, but it didn’t solve anything in the end.  The Mexican War occurred from 1846 to 1848 in Texas, New Mexico, California, and Mexico. President James K. Polk had the goals of expanding the U.S. all the way to the Pacific coast and the Mexican War was fought for the area of Texas. The New Englanders showed their sectional interest when they opposed the Mexican War. They were against the new western states becoming slavery states. In 1849, after the Mexican War, California was swarmed because of the the gold rush and drafted a constitution to become a state banning slavery. President Zachary Taylor was excepting of the idea of California being a anti-slavery state. Since President Taylor was from the south and had slaves of his own the southerners felt very betrayed by the President siding with the New Englanders. This sparked the rumor of secession in the south.

To please both the north and the south Henry Clay came up with the Compromise of 1850. California was allowed to be a free state like they requested. New Mexico and Utah were to be decided on being a slave state or a free state based on the popular sovereignty. This pleased the New Englanders because this gave them more power over the south. As a part of the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Law was passed with it. This gave the southerners the power to retrieve their slaves that may have ran away.

 The opposing interest between the south and the north would eventually drive the country apart during the civil war. Compromises regarding slavery in the western states did not solve the overall problem and just brushed it off for a later date instead. The sectional interest of the New Englanders, southerners, and westerners greatly affected the outcome of the Mexican War debate and after.

Hubbard, Matthew. "Sectional Interest During and After the Mexican War." Yahoo! Voices – Voices.yahoo.com. Web. 16 Feb. 2012. < [|__http://voices.yahoo.com/sectional-interest-__] during-after-mexican-war-172869.html?cat=37>.