Notes CH 18 Part 1
pp. 390- 398 “Balancing”
Opening Quote sums up the state of the Union in 1850:
“Secession! Peaceable, secession! Sir, your eyes and mine are never destined to see that miracle.” Daniel
Webster, Seventh of March Speech, (on behalf of the compromise of 1850), 1850
Intro
It’s 1848 and The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo had ended the Mexican-American War… BUT POLITICAL
WARFARE ERUPTED… in the USA.
CAUSE: The “Mexican Cession” had raised anew the burning issue of EXTENDING SLAVERY INTO THE
TERRITORIES.
Northern Anti-Slaveryites rallied behind the principle contained in the WILMOT PROVISO…prohibiting
slavery in ALL AREAS ACQUIRED FROM MEXICO.
Debate over the EXTENSION OF SLAVERY INTO THE TERRITORIES…threatened to split the Union along
North-South sectional lines.
The Popular Sovereignty Panacea**** (we will see this issue later cause many problems)
Both the Whigs and the Democrats…the two great parties of this time…were a vital bond of
national unity…each enjoyed powerful support in both the North and South. (remember that the
churches split, the political parties split, then the nation splits)
POLITICIANS BELIEVED THAT THE WISEST ACTION WOULD BE NO ACTION CONCERNING THE
SLAVERY ISSUE AS THE ELECTION OF 1848 APPROACHES… could they contain it???
Two Groups were not going to let the politicians have their way: Northern Abolitionists & Southern “FireEaters.”
BASICS OF THE ELECTION OF 1848:
The Democrats nominate General Lewis Cass (Gen Gass ) for the Presidency in 1848.
The Whigs nominate General Zachary Taylor (Hero of Buena Vista) for the Presidency in 1848.
The Free-Soil Party nominates former President Martin Van Buren for the Presidency in 1848.
BOTH MAJOR PARTIES WERE SILENT ON THE SLAVERY ISSUE (WHIGS AND DEMOCRATS)
****Popular Sovereignty – Lewis Cass, “Father of Popular Sovereignty,” came up with this idea which he
felt would solve the burning dilemma facing the country… it is tried later in the 1850’s… with
DISASTROUS RESULTS (we will discuss how it tried later  ) *****THE DOCTRINE STATES THAT THE
SOVEREIGN PEOPLE OF A TERRITORY SHOULD THEMSELVES DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT THEIR
TERRITORY WOULD HAVE SLAVERY BY VOTE. THIS IS DEEMED TO BE A GOOD SOLUTION BY
MANY….DEMOCRATIC IN NATURE….AND ALLOWED THE CITIZENS OF A PARTICULAR TERRITORY TO
USE “SELF DETERMINATION” TO DECIDE THIS ISSUE. POLITICIANS LIKED IT BECAUSE IT WAS A
COMPROMISE ON THE SLAVERY ISSUE THAT ALLOWED THEM TO AVOID TAKING A SIDE IN A VERY
CONFLICTORY ISSUE….THE ONE FATAL DEFECT IT HAD WAS ….IT STILL MIGHT SPREAD SLAVERY…
Political Triumphs for General Taylor
Interestingly, Gen. Zachary Taylor, a career military officer, had never held a political office or voted
before he ran for President in 1848.
Taylor was from Louisiana, owned a sugar plantation and a number slaves. Yet the Whigs were silent, as
were the Democrats, on the slavery issue during the election….
A new 3rd party is formed due to the “CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE”…. THE FREE-SOIL PARTY… It had 4
issues: it supported the principle of the Wilmot Proviso and against slavery in the territories, and they
broadened their appeal by advocating for Federal aid for “internal improvements,” and advocating for a
“homestead” bill that would distribute Federal Government controlled lands for FREE.
THE FREE SOIL PARTY WAS MADE UP OF THESE 4 GROUPS AND THEIR ISSUES:
-Industrialists upset at Polk’s reduction of the tariff (Walker Tariff)
-Democrats upset that Polk would fight Mexico to add potential slave territory but not fight for all of
Oregon which would have been free territory.
-Northerners who did not necessarily hate slavery but hated the idea of having to share the west with
African-Americans.
- Conscience Whigs – influenced by abolitionists, who condemned slavery on moral grounds.
Their Slogan: Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, Free Men
Free-Soilers condemned slavery not so much for enslaving blacks but for destroying the chances of free
white workers to rise up from wage earning dependence …they argued that only with free soil in the
West could a traditional commitment to upward mobility continue to flourish…if forced to compete with
slave labor, more costly wage labor would die….and with it the chance for the American Worker to own
property…THIS PARTIES EMERGENCE FORESHADOWS THE EMERGENCE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY
SIX YEARS LATER.
TAYOLOR AND THE WHIGS WIN THE ELECTION OF 1848…
“Californy Gold”
Cause and Effect: The slavery issue resurfaces again due to Gold being discovered in California, in
1848.
Most of the Gold Rush Settlers who make it to California do not become Rich….
The most consistent profits were made by those who “MINED THE MINERS,” for example; it cost so much
$ to get laundry done due to the inflation in California…some sent their laundry to Hawaii, it was cheaper.
Tens of Thousands of people from around the World came to California, called 49ers…..
A distressingly high # of these folks were lawless men and virtueless women….
Due to this circumstance, the majority of residents, decent and law abiding, had a problem… so they
decide to apply for Admission to the Union, bypassing the territorial stage, AS A FREE STATE…. SO THEY
COULD RECEIVE GOV’T PROTECTION….
THIS IS MOMENTUS, AND SOUTHERN “FIRE-EATERS” THREATEN SECESSION AND WAR IMMEDIATELY
Sectional Balance and the Underground Railroad [other conflicts that existed] –Deadlock and
Danger on Capitol Hill- Breaking the Congressional Logjam
****The South in 1850: Had the slave-owning President, a majority of the Cabinet, a majority (including
the new Chief Justice appointed in the late 1830’s-Roger Taney, a slave owner from Maryland) of the
Supreme Court justices, and although outnumbered in the House of Representatives they could block any
legislation due to their 15 state equality in the Senate, Cotton prices were staying high and thus their
finances were great….FEW SANE PEOPLE, NORTH OR SOUTH, BELIEVED THAT SLAVERY WAS
SERIOUSLY THREATENED IN THE SOUTH, WHERE IT ALREADY EXISTED….and they could easily veto
any proposed Constitutional Amendment if one was proposed with their 15 state Equality…it takes
2/3rds to pass an Amendment.
Why the South Was Worried:
-The political balance of the future looks bleak… 15 slave states and 15 free states… if…California is
admitted as a Free State it would upset this balance, especially crucial in the Senate. AND POTENTIAL
NEW SLAVE TERRITORY WAS RARE…IF THERE WAS ANY LEFT… THE FUTURE?
-Texas has a claim against the USA because their western boundary is shaved of land for New Mexico.
- Abolitionists want SLAVERY to END IN DC.
- Thousands of slaves per year were running away using the UNDERGROUND RR.. and the South was not
satisfied with the current FUGITIVE SLAVE law passed in 1793…and WANTED A NEW TOUGHER LAW…
[The underground rr took slaves to Canada and to freedom… they used stations (homes) along the way
where they received assistance…they were led by conductors (like “Moses” or “General Tubman”- who
took over 300 herself in 19 trips) who took a huge risk going south and helping slaves escape] note: most
slaves DO NOT get their freedom this way….most are manumitted or pay for their freedom…..
-The South rested their argument for a stronger FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW on the Constitution which
protected Slavery and the laws of Congress (1793) which provided for slave-catching…
Twilight of the Senatorial Giants
Congress had a problem in 1850: California had applied for admission as a FREE STATE…and in response,
THE FIRE EATERS OF THE SOUTH WERE THREATENING SECESSION, if California was admitted.
*******The Compromise of 1850: stops civil war from occurring 11 years before it actually begins in
1861.
4 key players support the passage of a series of bills, debated over 7 months in Congress, that address
many of the questions mentioned above, they are; Henry Clay (Great Pacificator/Compromiser {3rd time
he saves the Nation}, Daniel Webster, and his famous 7th of March Speech – called a traitor by the
abolitionists…(paid afterwards by banking and commercial interests for supporting the compromise-they
would have lost 100’s of milllions of $$$), Stephen Douglas (“little giant”) who aids the elderly Clay, and
VP/P Millard Fillmore….
Those notable who opposed:
John C. Calhoun, SC – who dies before the vote…but strongly opposed the compromise because he did not
believe it protected the South adequately (suggests a Siamese Twin Presidency)
The Young Guards led by Seward, Sen. NY, who believed that to compromise with slavery was A
VIOLATION OF A “HIGHER LAW” than the Constitution… GODS LAW….
President Taylor- who although a slaveholder, was strongly influenced by Seward’s and the Young
Guards Higher Law argument / and was upset with Texas’ threat to fight the land removal to NM… and
would have vetoed the bill…BUT HE DIES… and Fillmore who presided over the 7 month debate in the
Senate was persuaded to support the compromise….