From the time of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 to the time of the Gadsden Purchase, westward expansion was a fuel to the issue of slavery extension to the West, causing sectionalism to increase between the North and South. Although westward expansion was one of the factors that accelerated sectionalism between the North and the South, other factors such as the imbalance between the states, the gag rule, the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the Compromise of 1850, the tariff of Abomination, popular sovereignty, and many more played their roles in the sectionalism between the North and the South. The more the United States grew and expanded westward, more factors appeared to hinder the growth of slavery, causing the South to threaten to secede from the Union due to their pro-slavery views.
Westward expansion was one of the ideas that was thought to bring economic boost, and the very first westward expansion was the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 was the very first westward expansion made in the United States under the presidency of President Thomas Jefferson. With the land purchased, many discussions arose to the purpose of the land purchased. Also, the newly bought land lead to questions regarding slavery, which is a factor that breaks the North and
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Westward expansion was thought to be good since it expanded the size of the United States and could improve the economy of the North and South; however, it resulted with tensions between the North and South due to self interests. Both sides wanted to have more states than the other. The North wanted to control the spread of slavery, but the South wanted to expand slavery. The arguments for new territories to bring success to their own sides soon lead to an actual war that was fought between the people of the United