How did sectionalism shape American history during the early to mid 1800's?

Sectionalism was apparent in the United States as early as
the Constitutional Convention, in the late 1700's, when the issue of slavery became a
point of contention between representatives of the Northern and Southern states.  Cash
crop farming for cotton, rice and tobacco were the primary source of income for most
southerners and the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney accelerated the
dependence on/profits of cotton plantation owners exponentially.  Farming of these items
was not as lucrative in the North due to the rocky soil, and the Industrial Revolution,
facilitated by Samuel Slater's espionage of some of Britain's trade secrets, had taken
the economy of the north in an entirely different direction.  By 1849, about twelve
years before the beginning of the Civil War, there had been multiple attempts at
legislative compromises, not to mention harsh words between Northern and Southern
lawmakers, over the issues of slavery and states rights (further complicating matters
was a growing abolitionist movement in the North, and people like Harriet Tubman who
were actively helping slaves escape their Southern owners).