The issue of slavery caused tension between the North and the South. In the North, the antislavery movement had slowly been gaining strength since the 1830s. Abolitionists believed that slavery was unjust and should be abolished immediately. Many Northerners who opposed slavery took a less extreme position.
The major similarity between French and Spanish colonies in the Americas is that both were what one textbook I teach from calls "frontiers of inclusion." In both of these countries' colonies, Native Americans were made an integral part of society.
