Renewing the Sectional
Struggle
1848-1854
“Secession! Peaceable Secession! Sir, Your Eyes and
Mine are never destined to see such a miracle”
Daniel Webster, Seventh of March Speech, 1850
The Popular Sovereignty Panacea
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) gave America vast new territory
in the West & Southwest (500,000 square miles), but it also sparked
continuing debates over slavery in the Mexican Cession that will split the
only two national parties (Whigs & Democrats).
Each of the TWO great political parties (Democrats & Whigs) was
vital to our national unity.
 Both enjoyed powerful support in both the North & South.
 If they were replaced by TWO purely SECTIONAL parties, the
Union would be in trouble.
***Most politicians seemed to think the best thing to do is not
confront the issue of slavery at all.
*** Even so, the slavery issue boiled to the surface anyway
(northern abolitionists & southern “fire-eaters”).
The Election of 1848
1.
The Democrats: Gen. Lewis Cass: chosen by the Democrats
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at convention in Baltimore; “father of popular sovereignty” idea.
Democrat Platform: silence on slavery in the territories.
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*Popular Sovereignty: idea that the people who lived in a
territory should determine the status of slavery in that territory (Cass
Idea)
Popular Sovereignty Appealed to many Americans:
 It was a democratic idea (Let the people decide)
 Politicians liked it because it took the controversial decision out of their
hands.
* FATAL DEFECT OF POPULAR SOVREIGNTY= IT MIGHT SERVE TO SPREAD
SLAVERY TOO
The Election of 1848, continued
2. The Whig Party: Chose Zachary Taylor (Hero of Buena Vista).
 chosen by Whigs at convention in Philadelphia; Dodged the controversial
issues of slavery’s expansion.
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Taylor- Louisiana slave owner, never held government office before, nor
voted.
Anti-slavery men in the North were disgusted with Cass & Taylor=
organized a new party.
3. The Free Soil Party:
 Came out FOR the WILMOT PROVISO & AGAINST SLAVERY in the
territories gained from Mexico.
 They called for federal money for Internal Improvements
 Called for Free government Homesteads for settlers.
Constituents: Northern industrialists angry at Polk for lowering the tariff,
Democrats angry at Polk for compromising on Oregon but, willing to fight
for Texas, Conscience Whigs, former Liberty Party members, and
Northerners who did not want to share the new territories with blacks.
Candidate: former President Martin Van Buren (NY)
The Election of 1848
Zachary Taylor won the election
Van Buren did not win a state but diverted Democrat votes from
Cass in NY to throw the election to Taylor
The California Gold Rush, 1848
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1848- on the American River near Sutter’s Mill, California
gold was discovered= miners & settlers flooded into
California (49’ers)= California Gold Rush
most miners used placer mining to pan for gold at the
earth’s surface= most did not strike it rich. (Quartz mining)
people who charged miners for services made the money
tens of thousands of gold hungry settlers flooded into
California= the tiny government could not handle the influx.
crime was rampant= vigilante justice (partly successful)
** 1849- (privately encouraged by Pres. Taylor) California
drafted a constitution that banned slavery & applied for
admission to the US as a state.
California would bypass the “territorial phase” of statehood &
bypass and southern opposition to free soil.
Sectional Balance by 1850
• South relatively well off:
1. Zachary Taylor – a Southern slave owner in the White
House
2. Southern majority on the pres. Cabinet & Supreme
Court
3. Equal balance in the Senate
4. Cotton fields were expanding- prices were high
5. 15 slave states could veto any proposed constitutional
amendment interfering with slavery.
*Admission of California might tip political balance (15
free/15 slave states in the Senate)
Southern anxiety
1. Settlers in New Mexico & Utah were agitating for admission as free
states.
2. Texas had a land dispute that included part of New Mexico
3. Northerners wanted slavery in DC abolished
4. The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad
* Even more concerning to the South
• an informal chain of “stations” (antislavery homes)
that would shelter runaway slaves (passengers) from
slave states to free soil in Canada.
• “Conductors” usually black & white abolitionists.
Most famous conductor: Harriet Tubman “Moses”;
runaway slave from Maryland. 19 trips into the South
to help runaways escape including her parents.
•Rescued 300 slaves
** Southerners demanded stricter fugitive slaves
laws
1850- the South was losing about 1000 runaways per
year out of 4 million – less than blacks buying
freedom or voluntary manumission.
** Southerners concluded that the Constitution
protected slavery.
Levi Coffin’s House
The Old Guard Debates California & Union
The “immortal trio” : Clay, Calhoun, & Webster appeared
together for the last time.
• California wanted admission to the Union
• Southern “Fire-eaters” threatened secession
• 1849- Southerners announced a convention to be held
in Nashville, Tenn. to consider secession.
1. Henry Clay: (73) proposed a series of compromises
(helped by Senator Stephen Douglas)
• North & South had to make concessions- a new fugitive
slave law was needed.
2. John C. Calhoun (68) championed the South- rejected
Clay’s concessions because they failed to protect
Southern rights.
• Leave slavery alone, return runaway slaves, give the
South rights
• A scheme to have a northern & southern president
proposed-never enacted!
3. Daniel Webster (68): Seventh of March Speech (1850)
•Urged adoption of Clay’s concessions
•Urged concessions to the South (new fugitive slave law)
• believed that slavery in the new territories was unlikely
• Seventh of March speech turned the tide towards
The New Guard-New, young members of Congress
•more interested in purging than pacifying
•William H. Seward- (NY) antislavery; against concessions.
• appealed to God’s law as higher than the constitution
1850- Pres. Taylor died & Millard Fillmore became pres.- gladly
Signed the compromises.
**The Compromise of 1850
1. California in as a free state= tip balance of power in
Senate to the North for good.
2. New Mexico & Utah- popular sovereignty would
determine slavery.
3. Texas was paid $10 million – but lost claims to NM.
4. Slavery allowed in DC –BUT not the slave trade
5. A new fugitive slave law was enacted
**1850 Fugitive Slave Law –”Man-Stealing Law”
• fleeing slaves could not testify on their own behalf
• fleeing slaves denied a jury trial
• federal commissioners given $5 if runaway was freed
& $10 if not= bribery?
• Northerners who aided runaways were fined or jailed
• Northerners could be ordered to help capture
runaways
US Map after Compromise of 1850
After the Compromise…
Peace-loving people in the North & South were determined that the
compromises should be a “Finality” and the explosive issue of slavery should
be buried.
 Talk of succession subsided
 This period was too brief
Who Got the Better Deal with the Compromise of 1850?
The North got the better deal:
 California as a free state= tipped the balance of power permanently
against the South.
 Although Utah & New Mexico using “Popular Sovereignty” could open
themselves to slavery…the climate & geography did not allow for planation
agriculture= the South needed more slave territory to restore balance in
Congress!
 The territory Texas had lost but had been paid $10 million (a paltry sum)
would most likely be Free Territories.
 The outlawing of the slave trade in D.C.= left an open door to eventually
get rid of slavery there permanently in the future.
Northern Hostility to the Fugitive Slave Law
The 1850 Fugitive Slave Law set off an angry reaction in the
North. The most alarming part of the Compromise of 1850.
Effect: Moderate Northerners pushed into the arms of
abolitionists!
Evidence of Northern Hostility to the law
1. 1854- a runaway slave from Virginia was captured in Boston
& had to be removed from the city under federal guard.
2. Massachusetts made it a punishable offense for any state
official to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law.
3. other states passed “personal liberty laws”- denied use of
local jails to federal officials.
4. the Underground Railroad stepped up its efforts-more
northerners helped runaway slaves escape.
The Fugitive Slave Law was a major blunder for the South?
• awakened antislavery sentiment in the North
• Southerners angered that Northerners refused to enforce it.
The Compromise of 1850 postponed the inevitable warwho did this postponement help most?
Answer-the North:
• gave them time to increase population, wealth, crops,
factories, ships, & foundries. & railroads.
In the 1850, moderate Northerners were less willing to use force
to keep the South in the Union but, the events of 1850
strengthened the North’s willingness to resist Secession.
The Election of 1852
1.Democrats- Franklin Pierce (second dark horse): chosen
by Democrats; lawyer-politician from New Hampshire.
•Weak & indecisive (“a doughface”)
•served without distinction in the Mexican-American War
• the “fainting general”; accused of a fondness for alcohol.
•chosen mainly because: enemy less, pro-southern
northerner acceptable to slavery wing of the party.
•Platform: pro-expansion of slavery & endorsed the
Compromise of 1850 & Fugitive Slave Law
2. Winfield Scott: chosen by the Whigs because he was a
military hero of the Mexican-American War.
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seemed haughty= turned off the masses.
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Platform: praised the Compromise of 1850
Other Parties:
• Free Soil Party
• Union Party
• Southern Rights Party
The Presidential Campaign of 1852
Turned into a mudslinging attack of personalities
• The Whig Party was spilt: antislavery Northern Whigs
accepted Scott but deplored his platform; The Southern
Whigs accepted the platform but did not trust the
candidate.
The Outcome: Pierce won in an electoral landslide 254 to
42.
The Demise of the Whig Party
Significant Result of the 1852 Election:
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it led to the end of the Whig Party
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led to an decline of national parties & the rise of sectional
parties
Whigs won only 2 previous presidential elections- using military
heroes (Harrison & Taylor)
The Whig Party legacyto help uphold the ideal of the Union through voting strength
in the South & North; and leaders like Henry Clay & Daniel
Webster.
Their legacy: The idea of preservation of a united United States.
Webster & Clay both died during the 1852 campaign.
Expansionists Look South of the Border
The American victory in the Mexican-American War and the discovery
of gold in California nine days before the war ended==rekindled
Manifest Destiny in the US.
The rush to the Sierra-Nevada gold fields aroused concerns over
Central America. Why??
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the narrow neck of land was ideal for a continuous Atlantic-to-Pacific
route that might sever the two American continents.
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Britain had gained a foothold on Nicaragua‘s “Mosquito Coast” by
seizing a port of San Juan= the US & Granada will seek a treaty with each
other.
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1.
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1848 US-Granada (later called Colombia) Treaty
Guaranteed the right of transit to the US across the isthmus in exchange
for American pledge to maintain “perfect neutrality” of the route so that
“free transit of traffic might not be interrupted”
**later Theodore Roosevelt will use this agreement as JUSTIFICATION
for American control of the Panama Canal in 1903.
2. Led to the construction of the first transcontinental
railroad completed in 1855; ran 48 miles across
Panamanian jungle.
* A full blown war between the US & Britain was avoided
by the:
The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850
America nor Britain would fortify or seek exclusive control
over any future isthmus waterway.
The South Covets NEW Slave lands
1.Nicaragua--William Walker (American adventurer)
tried a few times to grab this Central American territory.
• July 1856- Walker & an armed force from the Southern
US installed himself as president & legalized slavery.
• Central American nations worked together & overthrew
Walker= Walker was killed by Honduran firing squad in
1860.
2. Cuba: US southern neighbor; enticing prospect
for annexation – A chance to extend slavery?
• had large population of enslaved blacks
• could be carved into several southern states.
• Previously, Polk had considered offering Spain
$100 million for Cuba-Spain refused…
• 1850-1851– two American expeditions to Cuba.
• Both expeditions were repelled- the last
expedition (leader & 50 followers were shot or
strangled).
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•1854- Spanish officials in Cuba seized an American
steamer-the Black Warrior.
• President Pierce could now declare war on Spain &
seize Cuba?– No –he had another plan (see Ostend
Manifesto)
**The Ostend Manifesto (1854)
The US Sec. of State (under Pierce) instructed American
ministers in Spain, England , and France to SECRETLY
prepare recommendation to acquire Cuba. The meeting
took place in Ostend, Belgium.
The Proposal: urged that the US administration offer $
120 million for Cuba.
• if Spain refused– the US would be “justified in taking the
island” from Spain BY force.
** NEWS of the Manifesto leaked to the Press & northern
Free-Soilers & Anti-slavery people rose up against itSO….President Pierce dropped the idea.
**Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Book “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” had
been published in 1852—forced many people in the north
to confront slavery head on…and perhaps held the South
back from making new slave territories.
US interests in Asia
With the US acquisition of California & Oregon- the US would
become a Pacific power.
• Britain had defeated the Chinese in the Opium War (1842) &
gained access to five “treaty ports” & control of Hong Kong
(which Britain held for a century and a half).
• Boston merchants fearful of losing trade with Asia to Britain,
encouraged President Pierce to act.
The Cushing Expedition
1844 –President John Tyler sent Caleb Cushing (Mass. Lawyer) to
get China to make concessions to the US (4 warships & trade goods:
a weathervane & a pair of pistols)
• The Chinese diplomats were impressed with US trade goods &
hoped to have a counterweight to the British…made a deal.
Treaty of Wanghia- 1st formal diplomatic agreement between the
US & China• US got “most favored nation trading status” ;
“Extraterritoriality”- Americans accused of crimes in China would
be tried in American courts.
• US trade with China began to expand
• US missionaries flooded into China
US Interest in Japan
Japan had isolated itself because it did not want to be
westernized ( for 2 centuries following Jamestown’s
settlement).
The Matthew Perry Expedition 1853
1852-1853- President Fillmore sent a fleet of warships
commanded by Matthew Perry to Edo Bay (later Tokyo) –shocked
Japanese watched from shore.
• tense negotiations occurred- Perry threatened to blast his way
ashore- Perry went ashore with letters requesting trade.
• Feb. 1854--Perry returned one year later with 7 men-or-war
ships to get Japan’s reply to the letters; with gifts like a miniature
steam locomotive & 350 feet of track.
• March 1854-Treaty of Kanagawa- proper treatment of
shipwrecked sailors, US coaling rights in Japan, established
consular relations.
• Meiji Restoration- within a decade the era of the Shogun ended=
Japan began to enter the modern world.
Perry’s Second Trip to Edo Bay
Commodore Perry
Artist depiction of the miniature locomotive presented to the Japanese
An American Transcontinental Railroad
1840-1850’s--Americans wanted a transcontinental
railroad to connect western US & eastern US.
Should the Railroad be built in the North or South?
The South wanted a southern route through the
Southwest territory to California.
• a southern track easier to build because it would have
few mountains to cross, land would be protected by
federal troops
•the best route required a piece of land south of
Mexico’s border-Sec. of War Jefferson Davis sent
James Gadsden (southern Railroad man) to negotiate.
•**Gadsden Purchase (1853) Mexico sold the land to
the US for $10 million.
Northerners want the 1st Transcontinental Railroad
Northern railroad boosters urged Nebraska territory be
organized to prepare the way for a northern route.
• 1854- Sen. Stephen Douglas (Ill) heavily invested in
Chicago real-estate & railway stock hoped to make
Chicago the northern terminus for a transcontinental
Railroad.
Douglas’ proposal: **The Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
1.Nebraska territory divided into two territories: Kansas &
Nebraska.
2.Popular Sovereignty would determine slavery in the two
territories (dismantles Compromise of 1820).
3.Kansas which was west of Missouri (a slave state) &
was expected to become a slave state.
4.Nebraska-lying west of free-soil Iowa would
presumably be free state
** Kansas-Nebraska Act- contradicted the Missouri
Compromise of 1820.
•President Pierce supported the Act.
• Northerners & antislavery advocates, & Free-Soil party
members in Congress opposed the idea= branded him a traitor.
**Effects of Passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act
1.Led inevitably to the Civil War??
2.All future compromise with the South was made more
difficult
3.The Fugitive Slave Law was dead in the North
4.Kansas-Nebraska= death of the Missouri Compromise
5.Antislavery advocates gained more recruits
6.Split the Democrat Party after 1856
7.Led to the creation of:
**Republican Party (1st in Wisconsin & Michigan)
•The new party included: disgruntled Whigs (Abe Lincoln),
Democrats, Free-Soilers, Know-Nothings & other enemies of
Kansas-Nebraska.
•1856- Republicans elected a Speaker of the House
•Republican Party was a sectional party-not accepted South