Western Expansion and the Conflict over Slavery
With each new territory that the United States acquired during the era of Manifest Destiny, a crucial question
needed to be answered:
Should that territory be open or closed to slavery?
“But this momentous question, like a firebell in the night, awakened and filled me with terror. I considered it
at once as the knell of the Union.” – Thomas Jefferson
Background:
The South was eager to expand slavery to new lands for two reasons: First, cotton destroyed the soil within a
few years and planters were in need of fresh lands to continue to grow the cash crop that made the South one
of the richest societies in the world. Second, the South constantly lived in fear that northern interests (primarily
business and manufacturing which employed free laborers rather than slaves) would dominate the government.
The South was concerned that if an equal balance between free and slaves states was not maintained, the North
would take steps in Congress to abolish slavery or to impose its economic vision on the entire country.
The North had very little interest in allowing the expansion of slavery. Many northerners in Congress viewed
slavery as a backwards system that actually hurt the South’s economy by preventing innovation and the
development of new technology. Northerners believed that the country’s future was in manufacturing and
industry, not slave-driven agriculture. In the eyes of northerners, if slavery expanded into a territory, that
territory had little to no chance of investing in free-labor industry or manufacturing, In addition to their
economic issues with slavery, a minority of Congressmen also found slavery to be morally offensive and were
determined to halt its expansion.
Check your reading comprehension
1. Summarize the two reasons why the South wanted to expand slavery:
2. Summarize the two reasons why the North wanted to halt the expansion of slavery:
Territory in
Question
Louisiana
Territory
Background
 Purchased by Jefferson in
1803
 Even number of free and slave
states prior to the purchase
 Missouri (first state to apply
for admission from Louisiana
Territory) wants to enter
Union as a slave state but this
will give slave states a
majority in the Senate.
Question to
answer:
 Should
Missouri be
added as a
slave state,
even if it
means giving
the slave
states a
majority in the
Senate?
Date: 1820
Your
Compromise
Real Compromise
The Missouri
Compromise (1820)
1. Missouri enters
union as a slave state
(benefits South)
2. Maine enters union
as free state (benefits
North)
3. To prevent future
disputes, slavery in
the Louisiana
Territory will be
banned NORTH of
the 36’30 parallel
Territory in
Question
Mexican
Cession
KansasNebraska
Territory
Important:
KansasNebraska is
part of the
Louisiana
Territory.
The Missouri
Compromise
had
determined
the status of
slavery in the
Louisiana
Territory
Background
 Mexican Cession is the
territory acquired through
Mexican-American War
(much of the Southwestern
United States, including
California)
 California already was settled
by Americans even before the
war and will enter the Union
as a free state. California’s
admission will give the free
states a one-state advantage
over slave states (which means
free states control BOTH
houses of Congress)
 Senator Stephen Douglass of
Illinois wanted to build a
transcontinental route through
the North with a hub in
Chicago, Illinois (which would
make his city extremely
wealthy)
 In order to get the support of
slave state Senators for the
railroad route, Douglass
introduced a bill (KansasNebraska Act) that would reopen the Kansas-Nebraska
Territory to slavery, EVEN
THOUGH it was north of the
36’30 line established by the
Missouri Compromise which
BANNED slavery.
 South wanted territory opened
to slavery in order to even out
balance of free and slave states
that admission of California
had disturbed.
Question to
answer:
 Should
California be
admitted as a
free state even
if it means
giving the
slave states a
majority in
Congress?
 What should
the status of
the remainder
of the
Mexican
Cession
territory be?
Date: 1850
 Should
KansasNebraska Act
pass and open
up KansasNebraska
territory to
slavery?
 If the KansasNebraska
territory is
opened to
slavery, how
should the
government
decide
whether or not
slavery would
exist?
Date: 1854
Your
Compromise
Real Compromise
Compromise of 1850
1. California enters
unions as free state
(gives free states a
one-state advantage)
2. Congress passes
Fugitive Slave Act to
please South. All
escaped slaves must
be returned to
owners. Anyone who
assists a run-away
slave will be charged
with a federal crime.
3. Popular
sovereignty*** will
be used to determine
status of slavery in
Mexican Cession
territory
1. Kansas-Nebraska
Act overturns
Missouri
Compromise by
opening up territories
north of 36 30’ to
slavery (which angers
the North)
2. The status of
Kansas-Nebraska
territory will be
determined by
popular sovereignty
(which means
potentially more
slave states for the
South)
3. Kansas-Nebraska
Act seen as a total
victory for the South
rather than a
compromise and put
the nation on the path
towards Civil War
***What is popular sovereignty? Senator Stephen Douglass proposed the idea that the people who live in a
territory decide whether or not to allow slavery in a territory. While this idea is very democratic, it led to
violence between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers.
Questions:
1. In the Missouri Compromise……..
a. The North benefited more than the South
b. The South benefited more than the North
c. Both the North and South benefited equally
2. With the admission of California under the Compromise of 1850, who controlled both houses of
Congress?
a. Free states
b. Slave states
3. In the Compromise of 1850……..
a. The North benefited more than the South
b. The South benefited more than the North
c. Both the North and South benefited equally
4. As a result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act……..
a. The Missouri Compromise was overturned
b. The Compromise of 1850 was overturned
c. Kansas-Nebraska Territory banned slavery
5. From a Southerner’s perspective, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was a way to…….
a. Build a transcontinental railroad through the South
b. Gain new slave states in Kansas and Nebraska that would even out the balance of free and slave
states in the Senate
c. Extend the 36 30’ parallel line banning slavery across the rest of the continent.
6. In the Kansas-Nebraska Act……….
a. The North benefited more than the South
b. The South benefited more than the North
c. Both the North and South benefited equally
7. What is the major problem with popular sovereignty?
a. It benefits the North at the expense of the South
b. It benefits the South at the expense of the North
c. It leads to violence within the territory in question as pro- and anti-slavery settlers clashed
8. Overall, western expansion……
a. United the country
b. Divided the country
9. In your opinion, which of these compromises offered the best solution for keeping the country
united?
10. In your opinion, was the Civil War inevitable?