Slavery, Politics, and Westward Expansion

Political Strife Between North and South from 1819 up to the Election of

1860

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Missouri Crisis

• Northern concern over the growing “slave power”

• Populations in slave areas seem to be growing faster than in free areas.

• Missouri’s statehood threatens an imbalance between free and slave states.

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Missouri Crisis

• Congress arrives at a political compromise with 3 parts:– Maine added as 12th free state– Missouri added as 12th slave state– Agreement on the “Missouri Compromise

Line” of no slavery in the Louisiana Purchase above 3630’

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Missouri Crisis

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Missouri Crisis

• Why would southerners have been satisfied with the Missouri Compromise when so little additional land fell below the 3630’ line?

• Are Maine and Missouri wholly equal?

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Annexation of Texas

• Texas had been settled largely by southerners who brought with them slavery - particularly into Eastern Texas

• Mexico had outlawed slavery with its independence from Spain

• Texas independence in 1836 reestablished slavery as the law of the land

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Annexation of Texas

• The annexation of Texas as a state became the political issue of the early 1840s and the central factor in the Presidential election of 1844

• Southern Democrats used the political issue of Texas to damage the hopes of their political rivals, the Whigs.

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Annexation of Texas

• Southern Democrats play up fears that Texas will fall under the protection of England or France if the U.S. fails to act– Such an action would lead to the abolition

of slavery in Texas– Abolition in Texas would be perceived as

a grave threat to slavery in neighboring southern states

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Republic of Texas, 1844

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Annexation of Texas

• Pro-Texas candidate James K. Polk of Tennessee emerges as the Democratic Presidential candidate in 1844

• Henry Clay runs as the Whig candidate and proposes vague measures toward Texas annexation

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Election of 1844: Polk vs. Clay

James K. Polk of Tennessee

Democrat

Henry Clay of Kentucky

Whig

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Annexation of Texas

• In the election of 1844, region and slavery often trump loyalty to political party

• Texas and slavery drown out all other political issues

• Polk wins big

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Mexican War

• Once President, Polk takes a more expansive view of western expansion.

• Has eyes on California • Provokes Mexicans into war.

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Mexican War: Northern Opposition

• War is enormously unpopular in the North

• Northerners again feel as though they have been pulled into a war they do not want by a southern president and the political power of slavery

• Northerners believe the war is only about expanding slavery

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Mexican War: Northern Opposition

• Among the most vocal opponents are the Transcendentalists and northern intellectuals like Henry David Thoreau

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Mexican War: Opposition

• Wilmot Proviso - proposed but never passed - would prohibit the expansion of slavery into any territory gained by the war.

• Proposed by David Wilmot, a northern Democrat from Pennsylvania

• Debate again divides Congress into North vs. South.

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Mexican War: A Southerner’s War

• Southern officers & men fight overwhelmingly in Mexican War

• Victories greeted with enthusiasm in the South

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

• After suffering a humiliating defeat, the Mexicans sign the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ceding present-day California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Zachary Taylor

• The Whigs luck-out in the election of 1848: They recruit a slaveholding Louisiana planter and hero of the Mexican War as their candidate -- Zachary Taylor

• The election is not even close• Southerners feel reassured that

Taylor will protect their interests in the new territories

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

1850: California

• The discovery of gold in California in 1849 leads to a huge increase in population

• California will apply for statehood• Some slaveholders go to California,

but slavery does not have enough time to become established

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

1850: California

• Like Missouri had thirty years earlier, California’s admission as a free state threatens the balance of power in Washington D.C.

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

1850: The “Fire-Eaters”

• Zachary Taylor, the southern Whig President, goes against his region and supports California’s admission as a free state

• The “Fire-Eaters” - Southerners enraged at Taylor and the prohibition of slavery in California meet in Nashville to discuss secession

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

The Compromise of 1850

• Henry Clay promotes his last great compromise in 1850

• The Compromise has these four components:– Admission of California as free state– Outlawing of slave trade in D. C.– A strong Fugitive Slave Act– Slavery in Utah and New Mexico

territories to be decided by residents

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Fugitive Slave Act

• The Fugitive Slave Act compelled law enforcement in northern states to cooperate with the returning of escaped slaves

• Gives slave catchers federal authority• Backfires on South: Turns thousands

of northerners against slavery and the South

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Fugitive Slave Act

• The Fugitive Slave Act compelled many northerners to take a stand against slavery

• Saw the evil in their midst

• Felt loss of sovereignty

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Railroads and the Gadsden Purchase

• Even significant economic and internal improvement issues began to split along sectional lines

• The debate over the northern vs. southern routes for the transcontinental railroad reflected this divide

• Jefferson Davis as Secretary of War allows for the Gadsden Purchase - making a southern route plausible

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Railroads and the Gadsden Purchase

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Kansas-Nebraska Act

• The debate over the addition of Kansas will render the Missouri Compromise line of 3630’ null and void.

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Kansas-Nebraska Act

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Kansas-Nebraska Act

• Stephen Douglas and “popular sovereignty”

• Occupants of Kansas will decide the fate of slavery in their future state

• Douglas trying to build his image as a national political figure - a moderate voice

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Birth of Republican Party

• The Republican Party emerges out of opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

• Dominated by Free-Soilers, but includes abolitionists

• Will be a strictly northern party

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

“Bleeding Kansas”

• Election violence erupts in Kansas over slavery referendum

• “Popular Sovereignty” leads to a bloodbath and a preview of the Civil War

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

“Bleeding Kansas”

• Emergence of John Brown

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

The Caning of Sumner

• Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts delivers his “Crime against Kansas” speech

• Preston Brooks, a Representative from South Carolina canes Sumner senseless in the Senate chamber

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

The Caning of Sumner

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Dred Scott

• The Supreme Court rules on the case of Dred Scott vs. Sandford

• Refuses to intervene on behalf of Scott, a slave brought to Minnesota

• Recognizes slaves as property, even in free states

• Declares that blacks are not citizens and slaves cannot sue for freedom

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Dred Scott

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

• Lincoln of Illinois challenges Douglas to a series of debates about “popular sovereignty”

• Lincoln unable to deliver a majority to the Republicans in the Illinois statehouse, but makes a national reputation

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

John Brown’s Raid

• John Brown’s raid on the Harper’s Ferry Arsenal is a flop, but it gets people excited

• Brown, a true nut, becomes a hero and martyr to anti-slavery forces

1819-20

1844-5

1846-8

1848

1850

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

The Election of 1860

• The election of 1860 provided the last phase of the sectional crisis over slavery and led America into the secession crisis.