Abolitionists opposed slavery for several reasons. For may people in the North, the stronghold of the abolitionist movement, it was a moral imperative: slavery was a sin and it was necessary to end that sinful practice. Such arguments were popular thanks to the Second Great Awakening. They also wanted social emancipation of the black people and an end to segregation and racism, measures of American society´s progress. Some events like the outrageous Suprem Court´s Dred Scott decision that stated that slaves were not US citizens and thus could not sue their owners in courts, helped galvanize anti-slavery feelings in the North. Finally, there are economic aspects to be considered. Slavery was the agriculture-centered Southern economy´s engine; tobacco, cotton and sugar farming had contributed enormously to American prosperity. The North became more industrial and had a more diversified economy base on free labor. That´s a major difference and a key factor in the contradictions between North and South.
Local newspapers are heavily relied on by the public for a lot of the local information that they need. National newspapers, on the other hand, provide people with stories from across the U.S., and around the world.
