Sectionalism

1. Assess the discrimination against people different from the white protestant majority in the United States during the early 19th century in the context of two of the following: free African Americans, Native Americans, Irish immigrants, and German immigrants.

Both free African Americans and Irish immigrants were discriminated against for being neither white nor protestant but one to a degree higher than the other. African Americans have been dehumanized since slave trade began and although now this small minority has rights, they are still seen as less than the white majority. The 250,000 African Americans who lived in the North constituted only a small minority of northerners, but as free citizens, they represented 50 percent of all free African Americans. Freedom may have meant they could maintain a family and in some instances own land, but it did not mean economic or political equality, since strong racial prejudices kept them from voting and holding jobs in most skilled professions and crafts. Those in the south, by state law, were not equal with whites, were not permitted to vote, and were barred from entering certain occupations. In the case of free African Americans, they were discriminated against because of their skin color, something they cannot change, while Irish immigrants were not accepted for their beliefs. They faced discrimination because of their Roman Catholic religion. The Irish worked hard at whatever employment they could find, usually competing with African Americans for domestic work and unskilled labor jobs. Faced with limited opportunities, they congregated for support in northern cities where they had first landed. Unlike African Americans, they were not persecuted but with time allowed to enter into politics. Their progress was difficult yet steady, by the 1850s they had secured jobs and influences.

2. How did people in two of the following sections reflect the belief in 1826 that there were good reasons to expect continued...