Renewing the Sectional Struggle

Chapter 18

The Popular Sovereignty

• The Election of 1848– Polk announces he will not run– The Democrats run General Lewis

Cass– The party ignored the slavery issue– Cass, on the other hand, was a

proponent of popular sovereignty.•Self-determination; it let the

territories decide for themselves whether slavery should exist

Political Triumphs for General Taylor

• The Whigs nominated General Zachary Taylor– The party also ignored slavery and

focused on their candidate.– Taylor was a Louisiana slave owner.– General during the Mexican-

American War.

Free Soil Party

• Platform: Against slavery in the territories and for the Wilmot Proviso– Candidate: Martin Van Buren

• Who were “Free Soilers?”– Industrialists who disliked Polk’s reduced

tariff– Democrats who felt betrayed by Polk’s

Oregon compromise– Northerners who disliked blacks in the

territories– Conscience Whigs: abolitionists

The Election

• The Campaign:– Focused on personalities– Slogans used extensively

• The Votes:– Taylor – 1,360,967 (163)– Cass – 1,222,342 (127) – Van Buren – 291,263 (0)

President Zachary Taylor

• War Hero, but no politician

• Born in Virginia– Eventually

became a well-off plantation owner

• Career Soldier• Nationalist

“Californy Gold”

• 1848: Gold is discovered in California– Hordes of people moved to

California with “Gold Fever”• Many of whom were “lawless” men• Crime significantly increased

Statehood for California

• 1849: California drafts a constitution and applies for statehood– The constitution excluded slavery– Southerners fought against the

annexation of California

Sectional Balance and the Underground Railroad

• The South in 1850– Political Advantages:

• Southern President• Majority in the Cabinet and the

Supreme Court• Equal in the Senate• Expanding cotton fields and profits

– Political Disadvantages:• Potential slave territory was diminishing• California could tip the balance in the

Senate• Abolitionists were gaining more power

• Runaway Slaves– Slaves could receive “passage” on

the Underground Railroad System– It was a series of safe-houses at

which slaves could stay on their way to freedom – Canada

– Harriet Tubman (Moses), a runaway slave, rescued more than 300 slaves.

• Southerners demanded a more stringent fugitive slave act

Sectional Balance and the Underground Railroad

• Why did Southerners want such a stringent Fugitive Slave Act?– Abolitionists were openly flouting

the current laws.– Abolitionists held moral judgments

on Southern slave-holders.

Sectional Balance and the Underground Railroad

Twilight of the Senatorial Giants

• Southern states threatened secession if California was admitted as a free state.

• There was a great debate in Congress over this issue.– Henry Clay– Stephen A. Douglas– John C. Calhoun– Daniel Webster

The Debate

• Henry Clay proposed a series of compromises which would allow California admittance, while giving concessions to the South.

• John C. Calhoun rejected Clay’s plans and argued for:– The return of runaway slaves– Keep the balance in the Senate– Possible dual presidency

The Debate

• Daniel Webster upheld Clay’s compromise measures– His speech lasted three hours and

turned many people toward compromise.

– Webster argued that slavery would not exist in the new territories because of geography – no need to legislate

The Compromise of 1850

• Concessions to the North– California admitted as a free state– Disputed territory in Texas would go

to New Mexico– Abolition of the slave trade in D.C.

• Concessions to the South– Remainder of the Mexican Cession

would have popular sovereignty– Texas would receive $10 million

compensation– A stronger fugitive slave law

Deadlock and Danger on Capitol Hill

• William H. Seward– Senator from New York– Strong anti-slaveryite – He argued against concessions and

compromise

• President Taylor threatened to veto any compromise

• Stephen A. Douglas broke the compromise into its individual pieces, and they were all eventually passed.

Breaking the Congressional Logjam

• President Taylor died and Millard Fillmore became President.– He wanted compromise and willingly

signed the compromise • Although it was now law, the

country was still very divided over the compromise.– Southern extremists met to

condemn the compromise, but eventually the South accepted it.

Balance the Compromise Scales

• Who got the better deal?– North because:

•California tipped the scale against the South

•New Mexico and Utah were unlikely to use slave labor because of geography.

•Texas received $10 million, but it was not a great sum.

•Fugitive Slave Act of 1850: many northerners ignored it.

The Fugitive Slave Law

• Captured slaves could not testify on their own behalf

• They were denied a jury trial.• Commissioners received a double

fee if he ruled the suspect a runaway slave.

• Northerners were threatened with heavy fines and jail sentences for aiding runaway slaves.

The Fugitive Slave Law

• Results in the North:– Personal Liberty Laws– Growth of the Underground

Railroad– Moderate Northerners became

ardent abolitionists

Defeat and Doom for the Whigs

• Election of 1852– The Democrats nominate the

unknown Franklin Pierce• Prosouth northerner • He supported the Compromise of 1850

– The Whigs nominated Winfield Scott• They did not choose to nominate

notables from their party.• The Whigs also campaigned on the

Compromise.

The Election

• The campaign, again, focused on personalities and tried to ignore the issues.

• The Whig party had split amid the Fugitive Slave Law and the Democrats were able to capitalize on that.

• Pierce – 254 electoral votes• Scott – 42 electoral votes

President Pierce the Expansionist

• President Pierce wanted to acquire more territory

• He filled his Cabinet with aggressive southerners

Expansion in Central America?

• Southerners were locked out of the North for expansion, so they began looking at the Caribbean and Central American as potential slave states.

• An American adventurer had attempted to seize control of this land in the 1850s.– William Walker recruited an army (Southern)

and installed himself as president.– He legalized slavery– A coalition of Central American nations

overthrew him and he was executed in 1860.

America as a Pacific Power

• Acquisition of California and Oregon opened up trade prospects with Asia.– Already had commercial contracts

with China– Commodore Matthew Perry

“Persuaded” the Japanese to sign a treaty in 1854

Coveted Cuba: Pearl of the Antilles

• President Polk had offered to purchase Cuba from the Spanish.

• Private filibustering expeditions were attempted to seize it by Southerners.

• 1854: Spain seized an American steamer – Black Warrior – Ostend Manifesto: a scheme to offer

Spain $120 million and seize it if she refused the offer

– Northern Free-Soilers forced Pierce to drop its scheme for Cuba

Pacific Railroad Promoters

• The great distance between California and the Union caused many problems.

• A transcontinental railroad was proposed to solve the problems.

• The new problem:– Where to build it?

The Gadsden Purchase

• The best railway route would be through the South. In order to make it work, a piece of land in Mexico was necessary.

• Gadsden Purchase treaty (1853):– $10 million dollars for the land

The Gadsden Purchase• The Advantages of the Southern

Route:– Easier to build with fewer high

mountains– It would pass through organized

territory with federal troops– The threat of natives was lower

• Attempts for the Northern Route:– Nebraska would have to be organized– Southern states would not approve –

it would create another free-soil state

Douglas’s Kansas-Nebraska Scheme

• Stephen A. Douglas wanted the railroad to take a northern route and pass through his home state: Illinois – It would help his

reelection– He had made land

investments in Chicago

Kansas-Nebraska Act

• Divide the Nebraska Territory into two – Kansas and Nebraska

• Allow popular sovereignty to determine whether slavery would exist

• The Catch:– It would repeal the Missouri

Compromise of 1820

Kansas-Nebraska Act

• The Fight in Congress:– Southerners jumped at the chance

to gain another slave state– President Pierce backed the bill due

to the influence of his advisors– Northerners fought the act with a

vengeance.– Violence threatened to break out in

the Congressional chambers

Congress Legislates a Civil War

• The Act leads to the Civil War:– The Kansas-Nebraska Act undid a 34

year compromise.– It polarized people to the point of no

return.– It launched the Republican party -

whose election of Abraham Lincoln sparked the war itself.