It kept critics and dissenters away from the main population by imprisoning them in remote labor camps. Usually they were executed if they showed to be too much of a threat
Need for industry--the War of 1812 demonstrated the US dependence on Great Britain for manufactured goods.
Following the War of 1812 and experiences with blockades and embargoes, the US came to the realization they could not be self-sufficient and were dependent on Great Britain for manufacturing. The US government began to invest in industry and infrastructure as well as banking to launch an industrial system. Farming remained important but as a piece of the entire economic system.
The Wilmot Proviso prevented new states from becoming slave states, the compromise enabled them to become slave states if popular sovereignty wanted them to be. California was allowed to become a new, non-slave state, and in return Slavery was enabled and allowed in the south, strengthening fugitive laws even more. To everyone it seemed like a victory for a while.
