War on the HorizonStudy the political cartoon and use your knowledge of U.S.

History to answer the following questions.

• What are the two ways the cartoonist shows who the two groups of students are?

• What point is the cartoonist making by having Columbia just awaken from a nap?

• What lesson has the teacher assigned? How do you know? Why would she assign this lesson?

• What were the scrambling students doing before the teacher woke up? What historical event might this reference?

• Why is there a map of the United States behind Miss Columbia?

Chapter 18:Renewing the Sectional Struggle

The sectional conflict over the expansion of slavery that erupted after

the Mexican War was temporarily quieted by the Compromise of 1850,

but Douglas’s Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 exploded it again.

The Beginnings of Sectionalism• As Americans expanded West in the 1840s,

conflicts intensified between the North & the South regarding the issue of slavery

• Northerners rallied around the Wilmot Proviso (prohibited slavery in any territory acquired in the Mexican War)– Southern senators blocked its passage

• Its debate revealed sectional (not party) divisions

A major shift in politics is looming involving sectional political parties

The Popular Sovereignty Panacea • Existence of two strong political

parties (Democrats & Whigs) that were both popular in the North, South, & West helped keep America from splitting apart– Politicians ignored problems

generated by slavery– Northern abolitionists and

southern “fire-eaters” (strongly pro-slavery) continued to agitate

• 1848: Polk, due to exhaustion from overworking, did not seek a second term

The Popular Sovereignty Panacea• Slavery in the West was a key issue in the

Election of 1848:– Democratic platform did not address the

issue of slavery– Democratic nominee Lewis Cass

proposed popular sovereigntypopular sovereignty to allow territorial settlers (not Congress) to decide slavery in the West

• Compromise between the extremes of the North and the South

• Places the issue in the hands of the people

Northern Democrats liked it (let settlers decide)

Political Triumphs for General Taylor

– Whig candidate Zachary Taylor evaded the slavery issue• No political experience, but a popular war

hero– The Free Soil PartyFree Soil Party was created by

Northern abolitionists who nominated Martin Van Buren

• Party was committed against the extension of slavery, advocated federal aid for internal improvements and urged free government homesteads for settlers

Free Soilers were against the expansion of slavery (not slavery in the South), wanted

to expand West & allow free white workers a chance at upward mobility

Neither major party talked about the slavery issue, but Taylor won narrowly

“Californy Gold” • 1848: gold was discovered in

California, thousands of men flooded into the state

• Most people didn’t “strike it rich” • An increase in crime led California

to draft a constitution and apply for statehood– Constitution written that outlawed

slavery– Bypassed the usual territorial stage

and avoided becoming a slave state

Sectional Balance and the Underground Railroad

• 1850: South was very well off – Southerner as president (Taylor)– Majority in the cabinet and on the Supreme Court– Equality in the Senate – Extremely unlikely that slavery was threatened in 15

original southern states

• Admission of free California would destroy the equilibrium forever– Might set a precedent for the rest of the Mexican Cession

territory and other states could follow

Sectional Balance and the Underground Railroad

• Underground Railroad - a secret organization that took runaway slaves north to Canada– Harriet Tubman (illiterate runaway slave) freed more

than 300 slaves

• Southerners were upset at the loss of more and more slaves from the South through this organization

• South also demanded a stricter fugitive slave law– First one (passed in 1793) was inadequate and ignored

by some antislavery public officials

Twilight of the Senatorial Giants

• Reasons for Compromise of 1850– Taylor proposed the immediate admission of

New Mexico & California as states– The South reacted angrily:

• Popular sovereignty would make California a free state

• New Mexico had no slaves or a climate adequate for slavery

– “Immortal Trio” met together for the last time to engineer a compromise

Twilight of the Senatorial Giants• Henry Clay urged concession from both the North and

the South (esp. a stronger fugitive slave law)• John C. Calhoun, dying of tuberculosis, pleaded for

slavery to be left alone, for the return of runaway slaves, the restoration of the rights of the South as a minority, and the return for political balance – Also wanted to elect 2 presidents, one from the North and one

from the South

• Daniel Webster wanted to uphold Clay’s compromise (three hour speech)– Proclaimed that the new land could not hold slaves anyway,

since it couldn’t cultivate cotton, etc… – Seventh of March speech helped the North into compromise

Clay: We must compromise

Calhoun: The South must protect slavery &

will “peacefully” secede

Webster: The North will never accept secession

Deadlock and Danger on Capitol Hill

• William H. Seward - against concession and hated slavery– Said that Christian legislators

must adhere to a “higher law” and not allow slavery to exist

• This might have cost him the 1860 presidential election

• President Taylor (influenced by the idea of the “higher law”) vetoed every compromise sent to him by Congress

Breaking the Congressional Logjam

• 1850: Zachary Taylor suddenly died of an acute intestinal disorder– VP Millard Fillmore took over

the reigns

• He signed a series of agreements that came to be known as the Compromise of 1850

California was admitted as a free state

Ended the slave trade in Washington DC (but not slavery)

Popular sovereignty would decide slavery in

Utah & New Mexico

A stronger Fugitive Slave Law was

created to appease the South

Taylor threatened to veto the compromise but his death in 1850 allowed VP Millard Fillmore to sign the Compromise of 1850

Balancing the Compromise Scales

• The North got the better deal in the Compromise of 1850 – California was admitted as a free state, permanently

tipping the balance.– The Utah and New Mexico Territories could decide,

with popular sovereignty, over slavery.• New Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 was drastic

– (1) fleeing slaves couldn’t testify on their own behalf – (2) the federal commissioner who handled the case

got $5 if the slave was freed and $10 if not – (3) people who were ordered to help catch slaves had

to do so, even if they didn’t want to.

Balancing the Compromise Scales

• New Fugitive Slave Law was a mistake on behalf of the South, since it inflamed both sides – Northerners turned from compromise to

abolition in large numbers

• Civil war didn’t occur, and this was better for the North – With each moment, the North was growing

ahead of the South in population and wealth (crops, factories, ships, and railroads)

Chapter 18:Renewing the Sectional Struggle

(2)

The sectional conflict over the expansion of slavery that erupted after

the Mexican War was temporarily quieted by the Compromise of 1850,

but Douglas’s Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 exploded it again.

Defeat and Doom for the Whigs

• With slavery (temporarily) under wraps, the parties needed new issues for the election of 1852:– Whigs nominated Mexican War general

Winfield Scott (“Old Fuss and Feathers”); Whigs had difficulty finding an issue

– Democrats nominated Franklin Pierce, claimed credit for national prosperity, & promised to defend the Compromise of 1850

The end of the Whig party leads to a rise in sectional political alignments

By 1852, the Whig Party was in trouble

Had no significant platform issues

Had difficulty appealing to voters in the North & South

Southern Whigs were angry over the dominance

of the anti-slave Whig faction

Coveted Cuba: Pearl of the Antilles • Cuba’s appeal

– Had large population of black slaves– Could be divided up into several states to restore balance of

power in US– Polk offered $100 million for Cuba to Spain, but was turned

down

• Ostend Manifesto - stated that the U.S. was to offer $120 million to Spain for Cuba, and if it refused then America would be justified in seizing the island – Northerners were outraged once this “secret” document was

leaked

• Sectional interests cancelled each other out – North wanted Canada, South wanted Cuba

Pacific Railroad Promoters and the Gadsden Purchase

• Difficult travel to California and Oregon• Only real feasible land transportation lay in a

transcontinental railroad • Southerners wanted a route through the South,

but the best one would go through Mexico (would not pass through unorganized territory)– Gadsden Purchase for $10 million (rip off?)

• North said that if organization of territories was the problem, then Nebraska should be organized – Why would the South agree to this?

Douglas’s Kansas-Nebraska Scheme

• Senator Stephen A. Douglas (Illinois) wants railroad through Chicago, where he had invested heavily– Needs to get Southerners’ support

• Douglas proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act – would let slavery in Kansas and Nebraska be decided upon by popular sovereignty – Missouri Compromise had banned this so it would have

to be repealed• Douglass rammed the bill through Congress, and it

was passed – He hoped expansion of West would bring railroads,

Democratic Party cohesion, & a presidential nomination for himself in 1856

Northern abolitionists were outraged because it allowed slavery in an area

where slavery was already prohibited

Congress Legislates a Civil War • Kansas-Nebraska Act led directly to Civil War• Northerners no longer enforced the Fugitive

Slave Law at all, and Southerners were still angry

• Democratic Party was hopelessly split into two, and after 1856, it would not have a president elected for 28 years

• The Rise of the Republicans– Vowed to protect free white workers & boost the

economy – Made up of seasoned politicians who effectively built

up the power of the party by 1856

Watch American party politics become sectional, rather than national, from

1848 to 1860

Look, both parties have national appeal

Look at the Republicans in the North & the Democrats in the South!

By 1860, the Republicans will elect Abraham Lincoln without even

campaigning in the South!

Chapter 18 AssessmentThe proposed admission of California directly into the Union was dangerously controversial because

a. The territory was in a condition of complete lawlessness and anarchyb. The Mexicans were threatening warfare if California joined the Unionc. California’s admission as a free state would destroy the equal balance

of slave and free states in the U.S. Senated. There was a growing movement to declare California an independent

nation

Northerners especially resented Douglas’s Kansas-Nebraska Act because

a. It aimed to build a transcontinental railroad along the southern routeb. It would make him the leading Democratic candidate for the

presidencyc. It repealed the Missouri Compromise prohibiting slavery in northern

territoriesd. It would bring Kansas into the Union as a slave state

Chapter 18 AssessmentThe proposed admission of California directly into the Union was dangerously controversial because

a. The territory was in a condition of complete lawlessness and anarchyb. The Mexicans were threatening warfare if California joined the Unionc. California’s admission as a free state would destroy the equal balance

of slave and free states in the U.S. Senated. There was a growing movement to declare California an independent

nation

Northerners especially resented Douglas’s Kansas-Nebraska Act because

a. It aimed to build a transcontinental railroad along the southern routeb. It would make him the leading Democratic candidate for the

presidencyc. It repealed the Missouri Compromise prohibiting slavery in northern

territoriesd. It would bring Kansas into the Union as a slave state

Chapter 18 AssessmentThe proposed admission of California directly into the Union was dangerously controversial because

a. The territory was in a condition of complete lawlessness and anarchyb. The Mexicans were threatening warfare if California joined the Unionc. California’s admission as a free state would destroy the equal balance

of slave and free states in the U.S. Senated. There was a growing movement to declare California an independent

nation

Northerners especially resented Douglas’s Kansas-Nebraska Act because

a. It aimed to build a transcontinental railroad along the southern routeb. It would make him the leading Democratic candidate for the

presidencyc. It repealed the Missouri Compromise prohibiting slavery in northern

territoriesd. It would bring Kansas into the Union as a slave state