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?