Slavery & the West
Chapter 12,Section 2
The American Journey, Glencoe
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Questions for the Nation
Should slavery be permitted to spread to
the West?
 Should slavery be abolished throughout
the nation?

For awhile northerners & southerners settled
their differences through compromises.
 Later, violence became more and more
common.

Question of Seccession


In 1820, Thomas Jefferson, now
in his 70’s, feared that the issue
of slavery would tear the North &
South apart.
Abraham Lincoln




Member of the anti-slavery
Republican Party
Elected President in 1860
Southern states withdraw from
Union
North & South prepare for war
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Missouri Compromise of 1820



Missouri asked to join the Union
as a slave state
This would upset the balance of
power in the Senate and give the
South a majority.
Senator Henry Clay proposed
Maine enter as a free state to
balance out Missouri entering as
a slave state = Missouri
Compromise


Kept the number of slave & free
states equal
Mason Dixon Line, latitude 36, 30
N – slavery permitted in
Louisiana Purchase south of that
line and banned north of the line
Henry Clay
Author of the
Missouri Compromise
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Missouri Compromise
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Wilmot Proviso


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
Northerners afraid of slavery
extending into the West
David Wilmot
 Pennsylvania Congressman
 Called for a law to ban slavery in
any of the territory won from
Mexico (war in 1848)
Southerners were against Wilmot
Proviso
 Stated that Congress had no right
to ban slavery in western
territories
1846, Result = passed in House;
Letters against the Wilmont Proviso
defeated in Senate
Question about slavery in the West
continued
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Opposing Views


Sectionalism strengthened
by Mexican American-War
 Sectionalism = loyalty to
a state or section rather
than to the whole country
Southerners
 Supported slavery
 Slaveholders wanted
slavery allowed in
territories & demanded
that runaway slaves be
returned
 Saw North as a growing
threat to their way of life
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Opposing Views


North
 Many saw South as a foreign country where American
rights & liberties did not exist
 Abolitionists wanted slavery ended throughout the U.S.
Moderates = people who didn’t agree with Northerners or
Southerners
 Wanted a little of each with modifications
 Supported popular sovereignty – allowing voters in new
territories to decide for themselves whether or not to allow
slavery
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California to Enter
the Union

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California wanted to enter Union as a free state
1849 – 15, free states, 15 slave states –
California would upset this balance of power in
the Senate
There was also a chance that Oregon, Utah, &
New Mexico might join as free states.
South was upset & many were afraid South
would secede from Union
Compromise of 1850 helped settle things for the
time being
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Compromise of 1850
1.
2.
3.
4.
California joined Union as a
free state
Land from Mexican Cession
divided into territories of New
Mexico & Utah
•
Voters would decide
slavery question
(popular sovereignty)
Slavery ended in Washington,
D.C.
Included stricter fugitive
slave law

5.
Senator John C. Calhoun of
South Carolina made demanded
item or else the South would
secede
Settled border dispute between
Texas & New Mexico
Henry Clay proposing
Compromise of 1850
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Compromise of 1850
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Fugitive Slave Law of 1850



Made it harder for Northerners to
ignore the Fugitive Slave Law and
required all citizens to help catch
runaway slaves
You could be fined $1,000 &
sentenced to 6 months in jail for
letting slaves escape
North resented, or hated, the new
slave law


It made them feel like they were part of
the slave system by being forced to
capture runaway slaves.
It convinced the North that slavery was
wrong.
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Political Cartoon of Fugitive Slave Law
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Questions
1.
Describe three different views on the issue of
slavery in the west.
2.
What were the results of the Compromise of the
1850? (explain the five parts)
3.
How did the Compromise of 1850 create new
conflict over the slavery issue? (hint: Fugitive Slave Law)