Sectional Struggle

1848 - 1854

1a., b. Slavery In The New Territories The short term effect of the Mexican War – more territory The long term effect – it brought the issue of slavery center stage

in American politics Will slavery be in the new territories? One proposed solution was popular sovereignty This solution appealed to many moderates Moderates were those who didn’t like slavery, but yet didn’t fight

against it with all their being (Lincoln was a moderate) 1) The states were allowed to vote on the issue and choose

to be either a slave or free state 2) It put the issue of slavery into the laps of the people so

the government didn’t have to solve the issue Sectional political parties arose – the Free-Soiler party They were against slavery in all new U.S. territories.

1c. Slavery In The New Territories The Election of 1848 Zachary Taylor is elected president – Taylor garnered

popularity from his success as a general in the Mexican War Sectional tensions arose under his administration when

California applied for statehood as a free state in 1849 This threatened the equal balance of free and slave states,

which were at 15 states each Southerners were also concerned about the North harboring

fugitive slaves – facilitated by Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad

President Zachary Taylor

The United States - 1845

2a. The Compromise of 1850 California’s request for statehood sparked a historic debate

in Congress between three legendary politicians 1) Henry Clay – 73 yrs old; Kentucky senator; he urged

the Congress to admit CA as a state and that the North obey the Fugitive Slave Law

2) John C. Calhoun – 68 yrs old; dying; wanted slavery and the South left alone

3) Daniel Webster – 68 yrs old; Illinois senator; didn’t like slavery but didn’t want the country to split, supported Clay’s compromise

2b. The Compromise of 1850 President Taylor dies suddenly in 1850 after just a year in

office He is replaced by his VP Millard Fillmore Admitted California as a free state It took disputed area from the slave-holding state of Texas

which was given to New Mexico Abolished the slave trade in Washington, D.C. Tightened the Fugitive Slave Law The North came out with the better end of the bargain in the

Compromise of 1850 The North gained the rich state of CA. The FSL was bad

for the South; it intensified the abolition movement and the North did not enforce the law honestly.

The United States – 1850-53

President Millard Fillmore

3. Expansionism in the 1850s The Election of 1852 – Franklin Pierce is elected Expansionist American lawyer and politician William Walker tries to gain

Nicaragua as a slave-owning, English-speaking colony for the South but he was stopped by a coalition of Latin American troops

The Clayton – Bulwer Treaty – 1850 – The U.S. and Britain have a brief dispute over who has the rights to canal territory in Nicaragua

Matthew Perry – opens the U.S. to trade in Japan, albeit through intimidation in 1854

Southern states also schemed for the island of Cuba especially in response to the admission of California as a free state.

In the Ostend Manifesto Spain would be forced to sell it to the U.S. but the manifesto leaked, and the Northern states stopped American acquisition of Cuba

3. The Kansas Nebraska Act - 1854 Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas boldly tries to solve the

sectional issue again with the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 All new territories could choose to be slave or free by

popular sovereignty This threw out the Missouri Compromise of 1820 Some criticize Douglas’ move here; many believe the

Kansas-Nebraska Act was the final push that put the country on the inevitable path to Civil War.

Stephen Douglas

President Franklin Pierce