Final answer:
Eastern bankers and merchants in the Northern states supported high tariffs to protect domestic industries, while the Southern states opposed them due to their reliance on trade and fears over federal intervention in slavery. The resulting sectional tensions over tariffs and federal policies escalated, leading to the Nullification Crisis and furthering the divide that ultimately culminated in the Civil War.
Step-by-step explanation:
The historical debate regarding tariffs and their impact on the North-South divide in the United States is tied closely to economic interests and the contentious issue of slavery. Eastern bankers and merchants, particularly in the Northern states, often supported high tariffs to protect their industries from foreign competition, an action that inadvertently caused tension with the Southern states. The South, relying heavily on trade and an agricultural economy, opposed these tariffs since they increased the cost of imported goods and made their exports like cotton and tobacco less competitive due to European retaliation.
After economic downturns, such as the panic referenced, Northern politicians sought to increase tariffs and implement land grants to support farmers, the railroads, and colleges to ameliorate financial issues and strengthen the economy. Southern resistance to these policies not only exacerbated sectional tensions but also reinforced the Southern perception that the federal government was promoting an antislavery agenda. This divide eventually contributed to the collapse of political alliances, as the disagreement over the role of federal power and the maintenance of slavery became insurmountable.
The debate culminated in the Nullification Crisis, where the Tariff of 1828 and subsequent policies convinced many Southerners that the federal government was capable of assaulting the institution of slavery itself. Vice President John C. Calhoun became the spokesperson for this southern anxiety, contributing to the theory of nullification, which argued that states could ignore federal laws that they found threatening.