Ch 18 Renewing the Sectional Struggle 1848 – 1854
 After Mex. Ces., slavery extension split North and South
 Nevertheless, Dems. and Reps. in both North and South
 Polk stepped down from Pres. in 1848 – Dems. nom. Lewis Cass
o ‘father of popular sovereignty’ – the people decide (slavery)
 Whigs nom. Zachary Taylor – never held office, mute on slavery issue
 Free-Soil Party emerges to support Wilmont Proviso and westward movement – nom. Martin
Van Buren
 F-S condemned slavery b/c it destroyed the white man’s move west to become self-employed,
not a wage slave
 Taylor won b/c of personality and war record
 Gold discovered in Cali. in 1848 – true profits went to those who supplied the miners
 Thousands of lawless men and women led to outburst of crime
 Backed by Pres. Taylor, Cali. sought free statehood w/ Southern opposition
 Prior to 1850, despite population, the South had plenty of power in Congress
 Nevertheless, Southerners worried about:
o Cali becoming a free state (15 free-15 slave in 1849)
o Northern Texas separating
o Wash. D.C. abolishing slavery (in middle of slave land)
o Numerous slaves running to North via Underground Railroad esp. under Harriet Tubman
– ‘Moses’
 Southerners were appalled by abol. helping runaways; 1,000 a year
The Congressional Debates of 1850
 In 1850, Congress met to end these debates w/ Clay, Calhoun and Webster in leading roles
 All three men convinced Congress to compromise
 William Seward claimed God outlawed slavery in the territories- “higher law”
 Pres. Taylor vowed to veto any compromise but…
 Taylor died in 1850 – V.P. Milliard Fillmore supported compromise
 Northerners liked it, Southerners did not at first but accepted it
 Compromise of 1850
o North got: California and slave trade abolished in Wash D.C.
o South got: popular sovereignty in land from Mex. and the Fugitive Slave Law – tougher
law to catch runaways
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The Fug. Sl. Law was hated in North- heavy fines could be imposed
Northerners despised the fugitive law law
Some northern states actually nullified parts of the federal law
1850’s gave North time to prepare for war
In 1852, the Dems nom. Franklin Pierce, inconspicuous and a pro-southern northerner who
supported territorial expansion and the Fug. Sl. Act
The Whigs nom. Winfield Scott—supporter of Fug. Sl. Act but hated as a man in the South
Dems and Pierce won in 1852
Whig Party ended in 1852; notables Henry Clay and Daniel Webster died
1848, the U.S. seized an agreement with Colombia for ‘free passage’ over the narrow isthmus
between the two oceans, later a RR connected the two
Clayton-Bulwer Treaty 1850 – neither Am. nor Br. would secure a canal in La. Am.
Under the Pierce Adm., South was determined to acquire more slave land
Where? Latin Am. William Walker tried to annex Nicaragua in 1850’s
Polk offered Spain $100M to buy Cuba w/ no luck
In 1854, an Am. vessel was seized by Spain in Cuba and Southerners wanted war
The Ostend Manifesto offered Spain $120M or a take-over but Northerners disagreed
 In 1844, Caleb Cushing persuaded Chinese diplomats to sign the Treaty of Wanghia – 1st
between U.S. and China for trade, not land
 This also led to more U.S. missionaries in China
 In 1853, Com. Matthew Perry sailed steel ships into Japan’s Edo (Tokyo ) Harbor
 Japan opened trade w/ the U.S. 1854 w/ the Treaty of Kanagawa
 In the West, transportation was slow to the new land; California
 The answer was ONE transcont. RR; where?
 the Gadsden Purchase was bought from Mexico and the RR was built in the South
 Sen. Stephen A. Douglas of Ill. wanted to build RR west from Chicago
 He propose cutting Neb. Territory into 2 territories—each based on popular sovereignty
 Contradicted Missouri Comp. and Northerners were furious while Southerners were given a
chance at another slave state
 Also supported by Pres. Pierce
 Due to Douglas’s persistence the Kansas-Nebraska Act passed Congress in 1854
 Douglas hated by Northern abolitionists
 The Republican Party formed made up of Dem., Whigs, Free-Soilers, Know-Nothings, to
prevent slavery spreading westward
For the period between 1844 and the Civil War, evaluate the impact of slavery as a political issue on any THREE of the
following:
Democratic Party
Free-Soil Party
Know-Nothing Party
Republican Party
Whig Party
Ch. 18 – 1 quiz
Name ______________________________
1) Name the three political parties during the election of 1848:
2) 2 parts) In regards to the expansion of slavery, Presidential candidate General Lewis Cass was considered the father of
________________________ which was:
3) What was the general message or goal that veteran politicians Henry Clay, Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun all had
during the famous Senatorial Debates of 1850?
Ch. 18 – 1 quiz
Name ______________________________
4) Name the three political parties during the election of 1848:
5) 2 parts) In regards to the expansion of slavery, Presidential candidate General Lewis Cass was considered the father of
________________________ which was:
6) What was the general message or goal that veteran politicians Henry Clay, Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun all had
during the famous Senatorial Debates of 1850?
Ch. 18 – 1 quiz
Name ______________________________
7) Name the three political parties during the election of 1848:
8) 2 parts) In regards to the expansion of slavery, Presidential candidate General Lewis Cass was considered the father of
________________________ which was:
9) What was the general message or goal that veteran politicians Henry Clay, Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun all had
during the famous Senatorial Debates of 1850?
Ch. 18 – 2 quiz
Name _____________________________________
1) How were federal commissioners paid who handled the case of a fugitive slave in regards to payment?
2) The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty between the US and Britain established what agreement between the two countries in Latin
America?
3) Of all of the compromises that were made in 1850, which one stirred up the most support for abolition in the North?
Ch. 18 – 2 quiz
Name _____________________________________
4) How were federal commissioners paid who handled the case of a fugitive slave in regards to payment?
5) The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty between the US and Britain established what agreement between the two countries in Latin
America?
6) Of all of the compromises that were made in 1850, which one stirred up the most support for abolition in the North?
Ch. 18 – 2 quiz
Name _____________________________________
7) How were federal commissioners paid who handled the case of a fugitive slave in regards to payment?
8) The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty between the US and Britain established what agreement between the two countries in Latin
America?
9) Of all of the compromises that were made in 1850, which one stirred up the most support for abolition in the North?
Ch. 18 – 3
Name________________________
1) What mode of transportation was suggested to get travelers to California but was driven off by mule-driving Americans?
2) What gift did Commodore Matthew Perry give Japan when he arrived for the second time in 1854?
3) How did Southerners feel about the Kansas-Nebraska Act and why?
Ch. 18 – 3
Name________________________
4) What mode of transportation was suggested to get travelers to California but was driven off by mule-driving Americans?
5) What gift did Commodore Matthew Perry give Japan when he arrived for the second time in 1854?
6) How did Southerners feel about the Kansas-Nebraska Act and why?
Ch. 18 – 3
Name________________________
7) What mode of transportation was suggested to get travelers to California but was driven off by mule-driving Americans?
8) What gift did Commodore Matthew Perry give Japan when he arrived for the second time in 1854?
9) How did Southerners feel about the Kansas-Nebraska Act and why?