Slavery and the West and A Nation Dividing

The Missouri Compromise helped resolve the issue of whether new states

would be slave states or free statesWhen Missouri joined the union in 1819, Thomas Jefferson called the dispute “A firebell in the night” that “awakened and filled me with terror.”John Adams said the debate was “a title-page to a great tragic volume.”…

Many northerners wanted to stop slavery from spreading into the new

western lands• Harriet Beecher Stowe –Uncle Tom’s Cabin-describes

slavery as a cruel and inhumane system. Top seller in 1800’s

• The North and South were competing for new lands for economic reasons and because of the slavery issue. The differences between the regions grew into sectionalism—an exaggerated loyalty to a particular region of the country.

• Enter Henry Clay-From Kentucky

Clay’s Proposal

• Allowing Missouri into the Union would upset the balance between slave states and free states. The Senate would not have equal numbers of representatives for each side if Missouri entered the Union

• The Senate proposed to admit Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. Henry Clay divided the Senate bill, known as the Missouri Compromise, into three proposals and got it passed in 1820.

The Map

Tariff Debate• Protective Tariffs 1828 and 1832-Taxes on imports

to help northern industries• The south forced to pay higher prices on imported

goods.• John Calhoun of South Carolina raises the

question of nullification-Andrew Jackson has Congress pass a force bill.

• Compromise is made and both sides claim victory-but questions remain-Can states secede (leave) the union if they don’t agree? Can States nullify a law?

New Western Lands• Texas comes in as a slave state• What about California and New Mexico?• Wilmot Proviso-a proposal in Congress that would

prohibit slavery in any new lands acquired with Mexico. It does not pass.

• In the election of 1848, The Whigs and Democrats are neutral with slavery issue

• As a result, the Free Soil Party starts up-”Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, and Free Men” they endorsed the Wilmot Proviso

Zachary Taylor wins the election of 1848

• California wants to join the union as a free state• Balance is 15 free to 15 slave states• The Compromise of 1850 –Had to pass 5 parts• 1) California would be admitted as a free state. • 2) The remainder of the Mexican cession would be divided into two separate

territories, New Mexico and Utah, and these territories would decide by popular sovereignty whether to be slave-holding or free.

• 3) Texas would cede its claim to parts of the New Mexico territory, and, in exchange, the government would cover Texas’s $10 million war debt.

• 4) The slave trade would be abolished in the District of Columbia, but slavery itself would continue.

• 5) Congress would strengthen the Fugitive Slave Act by requiring citizens of any state, slave or free, to assist in the capture and return of runaway slaves.

A Nation Dividing

• The Kansas Nebraska Act resulted from another dispute over slavery in Congress

Conflict in Kansas• Stephen Douglas proposed abandoning

the Missouri Compromise and let the settlers in the area vote on slavery issue

• Popular Sovereignty-Allowing the people to decide

• Northern Democrats are split on the bill• Sam Houston from Texas says, “The bill

will convulse the country from Maine to the Rio Grande.”

Violence erupted as proslavery and antislavery forces came to arms when the new proslavery Kansas

legislature was elected

• Only 1500 voters lived in Kansas more than 6,000 votes were cast.

• Thousands of proslavery supporters from Missouri crossed into Kansas to vote

• They travelled in armed groups and became known as border ruffians

Each group elected a legislature

• The Antislavery people refused to accept these laws and formed their own government

• President Pierce backs the proslavery group and congress backs the antislavery forces

• May 1856, 800 Slavery supporters attacked the antislavery forces in Lawrence Kansas-burned the town down

Bleeding Kansas

• John Brown-believed God had chosen him to end slavery

• Brown and four sons went to Pottawatomie Creek and killed 5 slavery supporters

• Civil War in Kansas• Governor ordered 1500 troops to

stop the violence.

Violence in Congress

• Charles Sumner, ‘the Crime against Kansas”• He lashed out against proslavery forces in Kansas• He attacked proslavery senator Andrew P. Butler of

South Carolina• Preston Brooks a relative of Butlers’ went in to cane

Sumner.• Sumner would not return for years.• Revealed the rising level of hostility in North vs. South