Chapter in Perspective

As U.S. history makes clear, sectionalism had long been a source of conflict in American society. Despite the Northern victory in the Civil War and the nationalizing forces it unleashed, the regional geographies, economies, and cultures of the South and the West continued to set them apart as distinct sections. After the war, though both regions depended heavily on agriculture and the exploitation of natural resources, the processes of industrialization and urbanization in the Northeast and Midwest had a powerful impact on these two "agrarian domains." As the two regions became increasingly incorporated into a continental market economy, ethnic and racial conflict led to the development of social caste systems to justify segregation of African-Americans, Indians, Hispanics, and Asians.