Renewing the Sectional Struggle
1848 – 1854
“The South! The South! God knows what will become of her!”
--John C. Calhoun
Impact of the Mexican Cession
Why are politicians avoiding the question of slavery?
The Wilmot Proviso
Supported in the North
Opposed in the South
Southern senators blocked the proviso
Threatened to:
disrupt the Whigs & the Democrats
split national politics along North & South sectional lines
Political parties represented national unity
Each enjoyed support in both the North & the South
The Democratic Party
Polk doesn’t seek reelection in 1848
What were his reasons?
Select General Lewis Cass
Senator & diplomat
Party was silent on the issue of slavery
Cass favored popular sovereignty – what is PS?
Popular sovereignty
Favored by politicians & public. Why?
However, could cause spread of slavery.
How?
The Whig Party
Selected Zachary Taylor
“Hero of Buena Vista”
Never held a political office nor voted
Owned slaves
Dodged all troublesome political issues – does
this help or hurt him?
Emphasized virtues of candidate
Free Soil Party
Candidate – Martin Van Buren
Started by antislavery men in the North
Platform – Supported:
Wilmot Proviso
Internal improvements
Free gov’t homesteads for settlers
Makeup
Industrialists unhappy with Polk’s tariff reduction
Democrats who resented Polk’s decision to settle for Oregon while
insisting on all of Texas
Those who favored keeping blacks out of the territories
Why does the majority of the FSP oppose slavery in the new
Western territories?
Election of 1848
Attacked personalities of candidates
Free Soil Party caused a split in the vote
Taylor (W) wins
Gold in California
1848 – gold was found // few got rich
“Gold fever” - many moved to CA (49ers)
Who made the most profits?
CA gov’t was not prepared for the number of people
Many newcomers were lawless men & virtueless women
Crime was a problem
Pres. Taylor secretly helped CA
draft a constitution in 1849
Excluded slavery
CA bypassed the territorial stage
Sectional Balance
Balance in Congress
15 free states & 15 slave states
CA would upset this balance. Why is this a problem?
CA would set a precedent for the other
states out of the Mexican Cession
Texas – claimed territory east of Rio Grande and up to
the 42° parallel (map page 405)
Threatened to fight if territory removed to make New Mexico
Could this have started the Civil War 10 years earlier?
DC – Southerners did not like the idea of banning
slavery in the nation’s capitol
Slavery
Fugitive Slave Act 1793
North was to return runaway slaves
What was wrong with this Act?
Underground Railroad
Informal chain of “stations” through which “passengers” were
led by “conductors” into Canada
Harriet Tubman – most famous conductor / ex-slave
By 1850, push for a new fugitive slave law
1850 – about 1000 runaway slaves out of 4 million
How do most slaves become free?
Underground Railroad
“Immortal Trio” of the South
Problems arise when CA applies for statehood
Henry Clay – “Great Pacificator”
North & South should compromise
More feasible fugitive-slave act
John C. Calhoun – “Great Nullifier”
Leave slavery alone
Return runaway slaves
Give South minority rights
Restore political balance


Elect 2 presidents- one from the North & one
from the South; both with veto power
Could this work?
Daniel Webster
Urged all reasonable concessions to the South
Fugitive-slave law
Seventh of March speech (1850) – helped turn the
tide of the North toward compromise
Deadlock on Capitol Hill
Northerners in Congress
More interested in purging & purifying the
Union than patching & preserving it
William H. Seward
Strong antislaveryite
Against any concessions by the North
Believed that slavery was morally wrong- “higher law” than the
Constitution
Pres. Taylor
Bent on vetoing any compromise by congress
Aroused by the threats of Texas to seize Santa Fe
Compromise in the Air
1850 – Pres. Taylor dies in office
Vice Pres. Millard Fillmore takes office
Gladly signed compromises proposed by Congress
“Fire-eaters” of the South wanted no compromise
the term Fire-Eaters refers to a group of extremist pro-slavery
politicians from the South who urged the separation of southern
states into a new nation, which became known as the
Confederate States of America.
Southern extremists met & took strong positions on
slavery & opposed compromise

Proved to be a dud
South does compromise with the North
Second Era of Good Feelings
Short lived
Compromise of 1850
Concessions to North
CA admitted as a free
state
Territory disputed by
Texas & New Mexico to be
given to New Mexico
Abolition of slave trade in
DC- NO SLAVERY
Concessions to South
Remainder of Mexican
cession formed into the
territories of New Mexico &
Utah; slavery decided by
popular sovereignty
Texas - $10 million from
gov’t as compensation
More stringent Fugitive
Slave Law
Which side gets the best
deal? Make an argument!
Fugitive Slave Law
1850
“The Bloodhound Bill”
Strong opposition in the North
Fleeing slaves could not testify in their own
behalf & were denied a jury trial
Commissioners who handled cases were paid
double if slave was returned
Several states passed “personal liberty laws” that hampered
enforcement
Angered the South that the North would not enforce the law
Will this new law make Northerners more or less appreciative of
the South and slavery altogether? Why?
Election of 1852
Democrat – Franklin Pierce (dark-horse candidate)
Prosouthern northerner – accepted by the slave wing
Platform – finality of the Compromise of 1850 including Fugitive
Slave Act
Whigs – Winfield Scott (war hero-Old Fuss and Feathers)
Endorsed the Fugitive Slave Act
Whigs were split



Antislavery Whigs of the North – liked Scott but deplored
his platform
Southern Whigs – liked the platform but not the candidate
Georgia Whigs – voted in vain for Webster who died 2 weeks earlier
Pierce won the election in a landslide
Defeat & Doom for the Whigs
Scott was stabbed in the back by this party
particularly the South
Election of 1852
Marked the end of the Whig Party within a few years
Won only 2 presidential elections (1840 & 1848)
End of national parties
Marked the rise of purely sectional political alignments
Choked to death trying to swallow the distasteful Fugitive Slave
Law
Clay & Webster both died during election
President Pierce
Cabinet contained aggressive Southerners
Jefferson Davis – Sec of War
Ready to acquire more slave territory
Manifest Destiny - stimulated by Mexican War
Interest in Central America


Especially Panama & Nicaragua
Possible canal route
Compromise of 1850 seemed to have closed off the Mexican
Cession to slavery

Forced to look for slave land elsewhere
Nicaragua
William Walker – “gray-eyed man of destiny”
Supported by the South
Took control of Nicaragua with his buddies
& installed himself as president in 1856
Promptly legalized slavery
Overthrown by a coalition of Central American countries
Pres. Pierce withdrew diplomatic recognition
Walker was killed in by a Honduran firing squad1860
Clayton – Bulwer Treaty
British were also interested in Nicaragua
Possible canal
Challenge to the Monroe Doctrine

Raised the possibility of armed conflict
Clayton – Bulwer Treaty – 1850
Neither American nor Britain would fortify or secure exclusive
control over any future isthmian waterway
Necessary to halt the British – will hinder the US in the future
Asian Trade
America had become a Pacific Power
Wanted trade with Far East
Already had contacts with China
Japan
Had been isolated for over 200 years
1853 - ready to open -mainly because of the Russian menace
Commander Matthew C. Perry
Persuaded the Japanese to sign treaty in 1854
Commercial foot in the door
Cuba: The Pearl of the Antilles
Sugar-rich island
prime objective of Manifest Destiny
1850s – coveted by the South - most desirable slave territory
available
Would restore political balance
Polk had offered $100 million
Offer refused by Spain
1850 –1851- Two filibustering (pirating) expeditions
Both efforts were repelled
Problems with Cuba
1854 – Spanish seized American streamer
Black Warrior
European powers were entering the Crimean War
US plots to take Cuba
American ministers from Spain, England, & France met in
Ostend, Belgium to make secret plans
Ostend Manifesto - 1854


Offer $120 million
If refused, US would be justified in taking the island
Word got out – Pres Pierce was forced to drop plans
North wanted Canada/ South wanted Cuba
Neither was accomplished
Pacific Railroad Promoters
Transportation problems
Oregon & CA were separated from the remainder of the
states
Solution: transcontinental railroad
North & South wanted railroad for economic reasons
Gadsden Purchase
map p. 415
1853 – Sec of War – J. Davis had James Gadsden (SC)
appointed minister to Mexico
Gadsden offered Mexico $10 million for land

Size of SC
Purchase allowed South the claim to the railroad
Smaller mountains & track completely through organized
territory
North – Nebraska
should be organized
Kansas-Nebraska Act
1854 – Stephen A. Douglas
Supportive of the West
Proposed the K-N Act
Nebraska Territory would be split
Nebraska territory & Kansas territory
Slavery decided based on popular sovereignty

Kansas – probably slave/ Nebraska – probably free
Violation of the Compromise of 1820
No slavery above 36°30’ line excluding Missouri
Results of the Kansas-Nebraska Act
One of the most momentous measures ever passed by
Congress
Repeal of the compromises of 1820 & 1850
Made future compromises impossible
North refused to enforce Fugitive Slave Act
Shattered the Democratic Party
Birth of the Republican Party as a purely sectional party
Middle West/ antislavery
Disgruntled Whigs, Democrats, Free-Soilers, Know-Nothings,
& other foes of the Kansas-Nebraska Act