Chapter 18 Notes: Renewing the Sectional Struggle

The Popular Sovereignty Panacea

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The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo brought up old issue of the extension of

slavery
o Northerners agreed with the Wilmot Proviso
Proposed that the Mexican cession lands be free soil
o Southerners shot down the Wilmot Proviso
It passed the House several times but was vetoed in the Senate
The parties were in jeopardy as well since at one time they had support from
all over the nation
1848 Polk too sick to run for a second term
o Whigs nominated General Lewis Cass (veteran of the War of 1812)
Senator and diplomat with a lot of experience
Originator of popular sovereignty
Issues of slavery decided upon by the individual territories
and their people
This was a compromise between the North and South

Political Triumphs for General Taylor

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Whigs nominated General Zachary Taylor

o Hero of Buena Vista in the Mexican War
o No political experience but popular with the people
o They avoided any and all picky issues in his campaign
The Free Soil Party
o Created by disgusted antislavery Northerners
o Committed against the spread of slavery into the territories
o Advocated federal aid for internal improvements and free gov.
homesteads
Attracted many different kinds of people
Those angry over the half-acquisition of Oregon
Those who didnt like Blacks in the new territory
conscience Whigs who didnt like slavery morally
o They nominated Martin Van Buren
All parties tried to avoid the topic of slavery
Taylor ended up winning this election

Sectional Balance and the Underground Railroad

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1850
o
o
o
o

the South was pretty will off

Southerner was a president
Majority in the cabinet and Supreme Court
An equality in the Senate
Even though they could block anything against slavery, they were still
worried
The balance of free states and slaver states was in danger (each had 15)
o The admission of a free California

Might set a precedent for all the other states of the Mexican
Cession
o Southerners didnt want Washington D.C. to be free either because it is
right in the middle of slave states
The Underground Railroad
o A secret organization that took runaway slaves north to Canada
Houses of antislavery people who helped hide them
Only about 1000 slaves got out this way but it was like a slap in
the face to the South
o Harriet Tubman was famous
She herself was a runaway slave who escaped to the North
Freed more than 300 slaves during 19 trips to the South
o Made South demand a stricter set of fugitive slave laws

Twilight of the Senatorial Giants

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1850 California demanded admission as a free states

o South was panicking because this would mean the balance would tip
A meeting was called with the last time the three big giants met together
o Henry Clay the Great Compromiser
Now 73 years old and dying
Urged concession from both the North and the South
Come together for the compromise
Supported by Stephen Douglas
o John C. Calhoun the Southerner
Pleaded for states rights and that slavery should be left alone
Return the runaway slaves
The restoration of the rights of the South as a minority
Return for political balance
Died of tuberculosis during this debate
o Daniel Webster from the North
New land couldnt hold slaves since it couldnt cultivate cotton
The North should try to compromise with the South
His speech helped move the North to compromise with the
South
Many Northerners claimed he was a traitor for ignoring the
moral side of history

Deadlock and Danger on Capitol Hill

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The Free Soil Party also called the Young Guard

o Seemed more interested in purifying than patching the nation
William H. Seward
o Young senator from New York
o Against concession and hated slavery
o Wanted no compromise even though the country was built on
compromise
o Christian legislatures have to make sure slavery doesnt exist
o Cost him the 1860s election

Seward influenced Taylor

o President began to veto any compromise Congress sent his way

Balancing the Compromise Scales

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The Compromise of 1850

What the North got
o California was admitted as a free state, tipping the balance
o Texas lost the disputed over land to New Mexico
o Slavery was legal in D.C. but there was no slave trade allowed
Symbolic only and was not practical
Could just buy a slave from neighboring states
What the South got
o Popular sovereignty in the Mexican Cession lands
This opened the POSSIBILITY of slavery
Which hadnt been there with the Northwest Ordinance
But the land was too dry for cotton and no slaves would end up
there
o Texas paid 10 million for the land lost to Mexico
o A new, tougher Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
Fleeing slaves could not testify on their own behalf
The federal commissioner who handled case got $5 if slave was
freed and $10 if not
People ordered to help catch slaves had to do so, even if they
didnt want to
Northerners said that they would not follow the law
Underground Railroad stepped up on its activity
These new laws inflamed both sides of the nation

Defeat and Doom for the Whigs

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1852 the Democrats were not able to agree but nominated Franklin Pierce
o He was unknown and had no enemies
The Whigs nominated old Fuss and Feathers, Winfield Scott
o Old veteran of the War of 1812 and the Mexican-American War
Both parties took credit for the Compromise of 1850
The Whigs were split among themselves
o Pierce won in a landslide
o This began the death of the Whigs which would give rise to sectional
political alignments

Expansionist Stirrings South of the Border

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Pierce was trying to be another Polk

o But cabinet was filled with Southerners and they would use him as a
tool
o July 1856 American William Walker grabbed control of Nicaragua
Because some Southerners saw it as a place for slavery
Coalition of Latin American states overthrew him
Increased attention on the Slavocracy theory

America also was looking at Cube in an envious way

Spain wouldnt sell it to the U.S. at any price even after two
attempts
Spain captured an American steamer on a technicality
Three U.S. foreign ministers met in Ostend, Belgium
o Drew up the Ostend Manifesto
U.S. would offer $120 million to Spain for
Cuba
o If Spain refused the U.S. ownership of Cube
America would be justified to seize the island
o Northerners furious when they heard of the secret
document
Pierce was embarrassed by these attempts and claimed no
association

The Allure of Asia

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America was now ready to open itself up to Asia

o Sent Caleb Cushing to China on a goodwill mission
Chinese were welcoming since they wanted to counter the
British who were coming in
Took Hong Kong
U.S.-China trade began to flourish
Missionaries were sent to save souls but were widely resented
o Commodore Mathew C. Perry sent to Tokyo, Japan in 1854
Came with impressive gifts and asked/forced them to open their
nation
Perrys Treaty of Kanagawa formerly opened Japan
It broke Japans 200 years of isolation from the Western world
Started them down a road of modernization, imperialism
and militarism

Pacific Railroad Promoters and the Gadsden Purchase

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Getting out to California and Oregon was a very difficult thing to do

o Sea routes too long and wagons too dangerous
o Only solution lay in a transcontinental railroad
Deciding where the railroad would go
o The Southerners wanted a route to go through the South
The best one would go through Mexico
Sec. of War Jefferson Davis had James Gadsden appoints
minister to Mexico
Found Santa Anna and bought Gadsden Purchase for $10
million
o It was a rip off but Congress passed it
The land was organized so any Indian attacks could be repealed
by the army
Geography they could go around the Rocky Mountains

South now appeared to have control of location of the railroad

North said if organization of a territory was an issue
o They could organize Nebraska

Douglass Kansas-Nebraska Scheme

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Senator Stephen Douglas proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act

o End slavery in Kansas and Nebraska decided by popular sovereignty
Concession to South to give up the railroad
The problem was the Missouri Compromise banned slavery north of the 36 30
line
o The act would have to be repealed
o Douglas rammed the bill through Congress and it was passed
Repealed the Missouri Compromise
South had never seen Kansas as a possible slave state so they backed the bill
o North did not like it and rallied against it

Congress Legislates a Civil War

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The Kansas-Nebraska Act wrecked the Missouri Compromise of 1820

o Indirectly wrecked the Compromise of 1850 since it brought back up
the old issue
Northerners no longer enforced the Fugitive Slave Law
o Made the Southerners angry
Democratic Party was spilt into two after 1856
o It would not have a president elected for 28 years