Territory

The acquisition of territory in the United States helped America by enabling it to produce more raw goods, and it hurt America by causing sectional tension in regards to many issues, such as slavery. The Missouri Compromise - which added Missouri to the union as a slave state and stated that all other states added to the union were to be free - lasted for 15 years before creating major sectional issues. The west, which was economically tied to the the north, agreed with the anti-slavery cause for the most part. This contributed greatly to the eventual dissolve of the union. By acquiring the western half of the United States, the north and west were economically united. Via transportation, the west was able to produce raw goods and send them to the North, where goods were manufactured into the finished product. The acquisition of territory in the United States helped America by enabling it to produce more raw goods, and it hurt America by causing sectional tension in regards to many issues, such as slavery.