Slavery Divides the Nation

The Missouri Compromise

• As settlers moved west, congress faced an agonizing decision. Should it ban slavery in the territories or should it permit slavery?

• In 1819, there were 11 free states and 11 slave states. Missouri petitioned for statehood, but that would have given the south a majority in the senate. The north did not want to lose power so they blocked Missouri’s entrance for many months.

• Eventually a compromise was reached. Missouri would come in as a slave state, and Maine would become a free state. This was called the Missouri Compromise.

Slavery in the West• The Missouri Compromise only applied

to land obtained in the Lousiana Purchase. After we won the Mexican war, we had all sorts of land that we got from Mexico. Would that land become slave states or free states?

• Some wanted slavery to stay out, and others thought it would be good for the country. David Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, came up with the Wilmot Proviso. It called for a ban on slavery in any territory won from Mexico. The Senate defeated this bill.

• In congress, slavery was becoming all they talked about. Many Americans began to fear that a peaceful solution to the slavery issue was impossible.

Opposing Views• Abolitionist want a TOTAL ban on

slavery.• Southerners want slavery allowed in

new territories• Moderates argued we should not

get rid of slavery in places it already exists, but should keep it from spreading. Others said the territories should decide for themselves. These moderates formed the Free Soil Party.

The Slavery Debate

The North and South MUST reach an agreement or our nation will break apart.

The North and South MUST reach an agreement or our nation will break apart.

Henry Clay

Slavery must be allowed in all territories, and the North should have to return our slaves!

Slavery must be allowed in all territories, and the North should have to return our slaves!

John C. CalhounDaniel Webster

There can be no such thing as a peaceful secession. Cant we just get along???

There can be no such thing as a peaceful secession. Cant we just get along???

Compromise of 1850

• When California applied for statehood after the gold rush, it almost tore the country apart. Again the issue of keeping everything balanced in congress was the issue. Neither the north nor the south wanted to let the other overpower them in congress.

• The eventual compromise is known as the Compromise of 1850, which included several important things. California got to enter as a free state, but the north had to give a little too. The north agreed to follow a strict fugitive slave law.

Fugitive Slave Act

• The fugitive slave act required all citizens to help catch runaway slaves. People who let fugitives escape could be fined $1,000 and jailed.

• Northern abolitionists were enraged. Each time the act was enforced, it convinced more northerners that slavery was immoral and evil

CompromiseOf

1850

California enters As free state.

Popular Sovereignty Will decideSlavery in NMAnd UTSlave trade

bannedIn Washington DC

Fugitive SlaveAct

TX/NM border Dispute settled

Uncle Tom’s Cabin• In 1852, a woman named Harriet

Beecher Stowe wrote the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Stowe wrote the novel to show the evils of slavery and the injustice of the Fugitive Slave Act.

• The story was graphic and used powerful imagery. Southerners hated the book and claimed that it did not paint a true picture of slavery.

• Despite such objections, Uncle Tom’s Cabin helped to change the way some northerners felt about slavery as it sold millions of copies in the north. More and more northerners now saw slavery as a moral problem facing every American.

Review Questions

1. What was the Missouri Compromise?

2. Describe how abolitionist in the north felt about slavery in the West? How did southerners feel about it? What did the moderates believe?

3. What was the impact of Uncle Tom’s cabin?