Balance Wheel essays

Balance Wheel essays Before one of the most devastating wars in the history of the U.S., the American Civil War, the country was divided in to sections: North, South, and West. With the North and South having very different sectional beliefs on issues, the West would often have to position with one or the other depending on what they believed. For this reason, the West is often referred to the balance wheel during the Pre-Civil War. By not siding with the South, and siding with the North, or vice versa, it was able to act as a balance wheel to level things out. The West held the same opinions as the South on certain issues. The second National bank, territorial expansion, and cheaply priced land were some of these subjects. The South and the West did not want a second National bank for the same reasons. They would rather pay debt back to the state or local bank because they probably knew the people working there, and they were always in debt. Also, it would be easier to make unsecured loans. With the local or state banks, the rules could be bent more, as opposed to the stricter limitations of the National bank. The South favored territorial expansion because they needed more land, because cotton destroyed land. They also wanted more land for slavery, which would give them more power in the federal government. The West favored it because it because they wanted to bring more they wanted to bring more people out west, and more land to farm. The territorial expansion ties hand-in-hand with the next topic, cheaply priced lands. The Souther ners and Westerners were in debt because of the cost of farming and the lack of profit in return. With cheaply priced land, they would be a greater profit because they could afford more land to farm and grow cotton. Since cotton ruins the land, Southern growers could be able to move on to another plot of land, instead of trying to better the quality. ...