Question Evaluate the extent to which Western expansion led to sectional tension between the North and South. Response The period of time between 1800 and 1850 can often be characterized by a time of immense sectionalism in American history. This sectionalism continued to intensify greatly due to the newly added conflict of how to effectively embrace the new territories gained in result of Western expansion. The south looked upon this land as an opportunity to expand the slave territories while the North had the desire to contain the spread of slavery. The sectional strife that was seen in resultant to Western expansion was moderate for the first 20 years of the 19th century, but was greatly intensified in the period from 1820 to 1850. Between the periods from 1800 to 1820 large Western territorial expansion was occurring; however, this expansion only imperceptibly increased the sectionalism of the United States North and South. The western expansion first began when President Jefferson purchased the vast land of Louisiana from the French around 1803, gaining the United States their first major piece of land lying west of the Mississippi River. Shortly after this purchase, President Jefferson also commissioned an expedition led by US Army volunteers: Captain Meriwether Lewis and his close friend Second Lieutenant William Clark. This expedition was essential in helping populate the area but not in increasing tensions between the North and the South. Furthermore an act was passed stating that states with a certain number of inhabitants could be added to the union and with this act numerous states peacefully joined the original 13 colonies. In addition to this expansion, Florida was also added to the United States to the United States with little to no increased tension. Tension was created over slavery but these tension only raised after the War of 1812 because that was what the whole nation was focused on. In fact, after the creation