HOMEWORK
Complete an FRQ on the question: To what extent
did Western Expansion contribute to sectional
tensions in the antebellum period (1800 – 1850).
You should remember to write on white-lined paper
and time yourself; no more than 35 minutes.
Chapter 19 notes due Wednesday; 20 due Friday.
Harkness feedback
• The good:
• Evidence-based
• Some good exchanges, both helping to fill in the blank
and challenging with different viewpoints
• Analysis, but not in the service of answering questions
• The bad:
• Dominated by a few voices
• Although broad participation, many who participated
late did so just to get in and did not use evidence to
support their claims
• The ugly:
• Failure to address and answer questions, stick to the
script
Compromise of 1850
Turn & Talk, Write
How did the California gold rush result in inflaming strong
sectional disputes?
Compromise Of 1850
California
• Gold discovered in 1849,
mass exodus to California
begins.
– Numerous immigrants,
including Chinese, Koreans,
and Japanese.
• Whites, already worried about
the Asians, Native Americans,
and Mexicans, do not want
more competition for postGold Rush jobs.
– California would push for
statehood, bypassing the
usual status as a territory.
– Wants to enter as a free state.
Poster For Passage To
California, 1849
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/California_Gold_Rush_handbill.jpg
Compromise Of 1850
California
• Congress has a
problem.
Free & Slave States in 1846
http://www.amren.com/ar/1995/09/map.gif
– 15 slave states,
15 free states,
and the North
holds a House
majority of 61
votes.
– Half of
California rests
below 36° 30´.
Turn & Talk, Write
Who supported and who opposed the Compromise of
1850, what were its main provisions, and how did it pass?
Compromise Of 1850
Last Stand of Clay, Calhoun, Webster
• The old sectional leaders
square off one last time.
– Clay would die in 1850,
Calhoun and Webster in
1852.
– All have basically the
same goals: preserve the
union without weakening
the position of their
individual regions.
– Debates rage as the three
try to keep the union
together.
Clay, Douglas, & The Fugitive
Slave Act Within The
Compromise of 1850
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16960/16960-h/images/356.jpg
Compromise Of 1850
The Proposal
• California is to be
admitted as a free state.
• The rest of the
Southwest is to be
organized without
mention of slavery.
California Gold Miners
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/willow/history-of-california0.gif
– Both sides see it as an
opportunity for the future.
– Compromise was written
with the “charm of
ambiguity.”
• Texas-New Mexico
border dispute is ended.
Compromise Of 1850
The Proposal
Map Of U.S. After Compromise Of 1850
http://www.bhsonline.org/library/Teachers/kelleher/US%20History%20DBQs/KansasNabraska%20Act%20Meagan%20Staffiere/kansas-nebraska%20dbq%20documents_files/image001.jpg
Compromise Of 1850
The Proposal
• The federal government
would assume Texan
debt built up during its
time of independence.
• Continue to allow
slavery in Washington,
D.C., but ends slave
trading in the area.
• A new Fugitive Slave
Act is to be set.
Slave Auction
http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/27/70527-004C24BFDCB.jpg
Turn & Talk, Write
Is there a significant difference in the leadership of Old
Guard senators such as Clay, Webster, and Calhoun when
compared with the Young Guard of Douglas and Seward?
Compromise Of 1850
New Sectional Leaders Emerge: North
Stephen Douglas:
“The Little Giant”
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/images/215.jpg
William H. Seward
Charles Sumner
http://www.impeachandrewjohnson.com/11BiographiesKeyIndividuals/Seward250.jpg
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/8/8
e/230px-CSumner2.jpg
Compromise Of 1850
New Sectional Leaders Emerge: South
Thomas Hart Benton
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Thomas_Hart_B
enton_(senator)_2.jpg/499px-Thomas_Hart_Benton_(senator)_2.jpg
Jefferson Davis
Robert Toombs
http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/hamill/hamill40.gif
http://www.portagepub.com/00-rsrc/graphics/Toombs.jpg
Compromise Of 1850
Opposition & Acceptance
• Clay and Calhoun
support the compromise
wholeheartedly.
– Webster, expected to resist,
surprises Congress by
delivering one of the
greatest speeches in
support of the compromise.
– Webster sees it as the best
chance at preserving the
Union.
– Webster is denounced by
antislavery supporters in the
North.
Clay’s Speech In Support Of
The Compromise Of 1850
http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Images/compromise.jpg
Compromise Of 1850
Opposition & Acceptance
• Taylor opposes the
compromise.
– Despite owning slaves,
sees the expansion of
slavery as wrong.
– July 4, 1850, attends a
celebration, eats too
much, and dies of
gastroenteritis.
– Millard Fillmore takes
over.
• Anything to preserve
the Union.
13th POTUS Millard Fillmore
http://truereligiondebate.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/president-fillmore-002.jpg
Compromise Of 1850
Opposition & Acceptance
• Compromise would be
pushed through
Congress by Stephen
Douglas.
– Very much like Clay in
1820, would be able to get
each section to pass it
individually.
– Only way to get the
compromise passed was
to introduce each aspect
as a separate measure to
obtain different majorities.
Stephen Douglas
http://www.lib.niu.edu/1999/ihy9902342.jpg
Turn & Talk, Write
Why did the North so strongly resent the Fugitive Slave
Law and why did the South resent northern resistance to
it?
Compromise Of 1850
Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
• “Bloodhound Bill” allows
the South to recover
slaves from the North.
– Becomes a rallying point
for the North, who oppose
Southern state laws
extending into the North.
– South believes that the
North is not complying
with the law.
– Bitter feud erupts between
individuals in the Senate
1851 Flier Warning Blacks Of
and the House.
The Fugitive Slave Law
http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=82603&rendTypeId=4
Turn & Talk, Write
Did the North, South, or West benefit most from the
Compromise of 1850? Why?
Compromise Of 1850
Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
• Northerners resist, including
many African-American leaders.
– MA makes it penal offense for
any state official to enforce
– Step toward nullification
Frederick Douglass
http://www-tc.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/images/4fred16b.jpg
– “personal liberty laws”
denied fed officials jails,
hampered enforcement
– Frederick Douglass, usually
mild-mannered, stated that
the only way to make the
fugitive slave law a “dead
letter…was to make a few
dead slave catchers.”
– Significance: turned
moderates into radicals
Processing
Was the Compromise of 1850 a wise effort to balance
sectional differences or a futile effort to push the slavery
issue out of sight?
HOMEWORK
Complete an FRQ on the question: To what extent
did Western Expansion contribute to sectional
tensions in the antebellum period (1800 – 1850).
You should remember to write on white-lined paper
and time yourself; no more than 35 minutes.
Chapter 19 notes due Wednesday; 20 due Friday.