Sectionalism in Congress (1870 to 1890)
Sectionalism is a fundamental and persistent factor in American politics. In the shaping of congressional legislation and even in the formation of the platforms of our national parties, the influence of conflicting sectional interests is of prime importance. The precise nature of such sectional conf...
Published in: | American Political Science Review |
---|---|
Main Author: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1925
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2939130 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0003055400021511 |
id |
crcambridgeupr:10.2307/2939130 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crcambridgeupr:10.2307/2939130 2023-05-15T17:32:09+02:00 Sectionalism in Congress (1870 to 1890) Roach, Hannah Grace 1925 http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2939130 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0003055400021511 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms American Political Science Review volume 19, issue 3, page 500-526 ISSN 0003-0554 1537-5943 Political Science and International Relations Sociology and Political Science journal-article 1925 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.2307/2939130 2022-04-07T09:00:59Z Sectionalism is a fundamental and persistent factor in American politics. In the shaping of congressional legislation and even in the formation of the platforms of our national parties, the influence of conflicting sectional interests is of prime importance. The precise nature of such sectional conflicts and the alignment of the various sections upon the leading policies of the time are clearly revealed by an analysis of the votes and debates in Congress on outstanding issues of national importance. Such votes, mapped by congressional districts, show that again and again party lines are broken by the force of sectional interest and that both Republicans and Democrats divide into sectional wings. A study of the period from the early 1870's to 1890 shows that sectionalism at that time was in large measure the product of the interaction of two movements in our national development,—the rapid expansion of Western settlement, particularly in the trans-Mississippi Middle West (the West North Central states) and the Mountain region, and the marked intensification of industrialism in the older sections of the country, especially in the North Atlantic states. Sectional alliances are flexible and shift with changing economic conditions. The East North Central states, for example, which at the beginning of the period usually vote in alliance with the West North Central and South, by the later eighties are found often on the side of the North Atlantic, a change which may be due to the fact that in the interval they had undergone a marked industrial development which gave them economic interests in common with the older sections. The areas of strongest radical voting move farther West with the shift in the centres of production of grain and livestock; that is, the nucleus of revolt in the Western wing of the Republican party especially is in the newer agricultural regions. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Cambridge University Press (via Crossref) American Political Science Review 19 3 500 526 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Political Science and International Relations Sociology and Political Science |
spellingShingle |
Political Science and International Relations Sociology and Political Science Roach, Hannah Grace Sectionalism in Congress (1870 to 1890) |
topic_facet |
Political Science and International Relations Sociology and Political Science |
description |
Sectionalism is a fundamental and persistent factor in American politics. In the shaping of congressional legislation and even in the formation of the platforms of our national parties, the influence of conflicting sectional interests is of prime importance. The precise nature of such sectional conflicts and the alignment of the various sections upon the leading policies of the time are clearly revealed by an analysis of the votes and debates in Congress on outstanding issues of national importance. Such votes, mapped by congressional districts, show that again and again party lines are broken by the force of sectional interest and that both Republicans and Democrats divide into sectional wings. A study of the period from the early 1870's to 1890 shows that sectionalism at that time was in large measure the product of the interaction of two movements in our national development,—the rapid expansion of Western settlement, particularly in the trans-Mississippi Middle West (the West North Central states) and the Mountain region, and the marked intensification of industrialism in the older sections of the country, especially in the North Atlantic states. Sectional alliances are flexible and shift with changing economic conditions. The East North Central states, for example, which at the beginning of the period usually vote in alliance with the West North Central and South, by the later eighties are found often on the side of the North Atlantic, a change which may be due to the fact that in the interval they had undergone a marked industrial development which gave them economic interests in common with the older sections. The areas of strongest radical voting move farther West with the shift in the centres of production of grain and livestock; that is, the nucleus of revolt in the Western wing of the Republican party especially is in the newer agricultural regions. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Roach, Hannah Grace |
author_facet |
Roach, Hannah Grace |
author_sort |
Roach, Hannah Grace |
title |
Sectionalism in Congress (1870 to 1890) |
title_short |
Sectionalism in Congress (1870 to 1890) |
title_full |
Sectionalism in Congress (1870 to 1890) |
title_fullStr |
Sectionalism in Congress (1870 to 1890) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sectionalism in Congress (1870 to 1890) |
title_sort |
sectionalism in congress (1870 to 1890) |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1925 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2939130 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0003055400021511 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
American Political Science Review volume 19, issue 3, page 500-526 ISSN 0003-0554 1537-5943 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.2307/2939130 |
container_title |
American Political Science Review |
container_volume |
19 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
500 |
op_container_end_page |
526 |
_version_ |
1766130112953057280 |