Due to the institution of slavery and the proper role and power of the US federal government led to the development of factions in the US because the group has different ideology about slavery as compared to other people of the government. They considered that slavery should not be removed from the society while greater part of the government were in favour of its removal. So this difference in ideology is responsible for the creation of factions in the US.
Yes, the reason they financed exploration is that they have either a monopoly over the found trade routes or the explorers found valuable resources in the regions.
