CHAPTER 19 RENEWING THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 1848-1854
Wilmot Proviso• Polk’s Two Million Dollar Bill 1846
• Wanted Congress to appropriate 2 million dollars he could use to buy Mexican land
• Wilmot Proviso (Proposed by Congressmen David Wilmot)• Amendment to the Two Million Dollar Bill• Stated slavery would be outlawed in any acquired Mexican territory• Passed by House not Senate• Vote is along sectional lines
Election of 1848• Whigs nominate Zachary Taylor• Slave owner• No platform
• Democrats nominate Lewis Cass• Father of Popular
sovereignty• Platform does not
mention slavery
Election of 1848• Free Soil Party- against
slavery in new territories• Took members away from both
parties• Antislavery men and racists • Free Homesteads and Internal
Improvements• Nominated Martin Van Buren
• Taylor wins- popular war hero
California Gold Rush• Gold is discovered in
1848, 90,000 people migrate to California
• 50,000 were Americans• Large proportion were
“lawless” men• Most did not make money
• Business owners/shopkeepers did though
What impact did the Gold Rush have on California?
COMPROMISE OF 1850
California• California skipped the territorial stage because their rapid
population growth• They applied for statehood, with a constitution that
outlawed slavery• Will Congress allow California to enter the union as a free
state?
Texas
• Texas entered the Union as a slave state in 1845
• Texas claims the eastern part of the New Mexico territory• This would prevent this
territory from becoming a free state
• Texas is in debt from its war for independence
• What should be done about Texas land claim?
Slavery in the Territories
• Territories are governed by the federal government• What should be done about slavery in the new territories?
Slavery in Washington DC• Washington DC is governed by the Federal Government• Northerners want to abolish slavery in DC
Fugitive Slave Act of 1793• Gave local governments the authority to capture and
return escaped slaves• Northerners resisted the law • Southerners wanted a stronger law with stiffer penalties
for people who helped escaped slaves
Secession
• Some radical southerners threatened to secede from the Union if the federal government damaged the institution of slavery
Three Options On the Slavery Question in Territories• Wilmot Proviso
• Slavery should be outlawed in the new territories
• Popular Sovereignty • The people in the territories should decide whether or not they
want slavery
• Constitutional Argument• It would be unconstitutional for the federal government to outlaw
slavery in the territories
Henry Clay’s Plan• CA is admitted • New Fugitive Slave Law • Texas gives up land claim in exchange for $10 million dollars • Slavery in the new territories will be decided by popular sovereignty
President Zachary Taylor • Elected in 1848• Opposes compromise, supports Wilmot Proviso• Dies 1850
Millard Fillmore• Vice President, becomes President 1850• Supports compromise
Stephen Douglas• Stephen Douglas passed each component of Henry
Clay’s compromise individually
1850’S
Results of Compromise of 1850•“Finality” •Balance of power tips in favor of the North•Northerners upset about Fugitive Slave Law
• Federal commissioners paid $10 for slave captured $5 if captured person was freed
• Tougher penalties for those who aided escaped slaves
Election of 1852
Franklin Pierce
• Democrats• Pro-south northerner• Platform-finality• Winner, southern
Whigs stayed home
Winfield Scott
• Whigs• Anti-slavery general• Platform-finality,
praises Fugitive Slave Act
• “Conscience Whigs” support candidate not platform
• Southern Whigs support platform not candidate
Southern Expansionism •Nicaragua
• William Walker- took over country made himself president• Central American nations overthrow him
• Clayton-Bulwer Treaty (1850)• Neither U.S. or Britain would secure exclusive control of a canal in
Central America
Southern Expansionism•Ostend Manifesto 1854
• Coveted by southerners, Polk offered $100 million• 1854 Ministers from Spain, England, France met in Ostend
Belgium • Wrote recommendations for getting Cuba• Suggested $120 million, if Spain refused then go to war• Ostend Manifesto got leaked, Pierce dropped schemes
Commodore Matthew perry
•Japan refused to trade/interact with west•Commodore Matthew Perry persuaded Japan to sign treaty opening trade relations
Gadsden Purchase 1853•South wants to build a railroad
• Brings wealth, population
•Easiest route to west coast is through Mexican territory•James Gadsden minister to Mexico, buys a strip of land for $15 million dollars
Stephen Douglas 1854
•Wanted to build a railroad from Chicago to San Francisco
• Owned real estate in Chicago
•Railroad would cut through unorganized territory that was given to Indians
Stephen Douglas 1854•To build the railroad, this territory would need to be organized by congress•South would not vote to create more free territories•To gain the support of the south Douglas proposed slavery would be decided by popular sovereignty
– This would repeal the Missouri Compromise
Stephen Douglas•Two territories would be formed: Nebraska and Kansas
• It was assumed one would be free the other slave
•Douglas hoped neither would be slave states• The climate in these territories was not suitable to plantation
agriculture
HOW DID DOUGLAS DEFEND THE KANSAS NEBRASKA ACT?
WHAT ARGUMENTS WERE MADE BY ITS CRITICS?