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Compromises and the West
Essential Question: Did the compromises made by Congress effectively address slavery and
sectionalism?
Read through the following excerpts and complete the activities that follow.
Many settlers who moved west to Missouri brought enslaved people with them. When
Missouri applied for statehood, a debate began. In 1819, 11 states were free states, and 11
states were slave states. If Missouri entered as a slave state, then the balance of power in the
Senate would change. There would be more senators from the slave states than from the
free states.
Northerners and Southerners did not agree about slavery. Many Northerners wanted to
ban it. Most Southerners did not like Northerners interfering in Southern business. These
differences grew into sectionalism.
The Senate offered a solution to the problem. Missouri could enter the nation as a
slave state, and Maine could enter as a free state. Henry Clay guided the Senate’s bill
through the House of Representatives. The house passed it by a close vote in 1820. The next
year, Missouri became a state. This solution, known as the Missouri Compromise, kept the
balance of power in the Senate.
Determining Cause and Effect
How would slavery in Missouri affect the balance of power and the laws about slavery?
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The debate over slavery in new territories broke out once again. Texas became a state
in 1845. Slavery was legal in Texas. The United States fought with Mexico and took New
Mexico and California. Representative David Wilmot called for banning slavery in any lands
taken from Mexico. This plan was known as the Wilmot Proviso. Southerners protested. They
wanted the new lands to be open to slavery. Senator John C. Calhoun stated that Congress
had no authority to ban slavery in any territory. No action on slavery was taken.
Both of the 1848 presidential candidates ignored the slavery issue. Their failure to take
a stand made voters angry. Many of those who opposed slavery formed the Free-Soil Party.
They selected a candidate for office, but he lost. Even so, the party gained some seats in
Congress. Zachary Taylor won the election.
In 1849 California applied to become a free state. At the same time, antislavery forces
wanted to ban slavery in Washington, D.C. Southerners, in turn, wanted a stronger fugitive
law. They wanted runaways in the North to be returned to the South. However, the key issue
was the balance of power in the Senate. If California entered as a free state, the slave states
would be outvoted in Congress. They might not get their fugitive law passed. Angry
Southerners talked about seceding from the Union.
Formulating Questions
Based on the reading you just did, use these words in questions that could be answered by
reading the text.
Free-Soil Party:
David Wilmot:
California:
Senator Henry Clay tried to find a way to solve the problem. California, Clay said,
could enter the Union as a free state. The new territories would have no limits on slavery. The
slave trade, but not slavery itself, would be banned in Washington, D.C. Clay also pressed for
a stronger fugitive law.
Debate broke out in Congress. Some legislators favored Clay’s plan. Others, among
them President Taylor, opposed it. When Taylor died suddenly, Vice President Millard Fillmore
took over. Fillmore favored Clay’s plan.
The debate went on. Finally, to end it, Senator Stephen A. Douglas divided Clay’s plan
into parts that could be voted on separately. Several Whigs abstained on the parts they
opposed. Congress passed five bills in 1850. Taken together, these laws were called the
Compromise of 1850.
Predicting
How might sectionalism have affected the nation at this time?
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Analyzing
How did Clay’s proposal for Washington, D.C., appeal to both the North and the South?
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