Chapter 13
Manifest Destiny
I.
Summary
- William Henry Harrison takes oath as the first Whig president on March 4, 1851
- He was set to enact Henry Clay’s American System 30 years after it’s creation
- However, Harrison contracts pneumonia after an inaugural address in the sleet
and snow and dies a month later
- John Tyler, a states-rights Virginian, became President
- Tyler only became a Whig due to his hatred of Andrew Jackson
- He proceeded to outcast himsle from the Whig partyby vetoing two bills to
create a new national bank
- Whigs lost control of Congress in the 1842 mid-term elections and the
Democrats pushed their political agenda of territorial expansion
- Through annexation, negotiation, and war the United States increased its size by
50% between 1845 and 1848
- However, this achievement would reopen the issue of slavery’s expansion and
plant the seeds of civil war
II.
Growth as the American Way
- by 1850 the American population had quadruplleed since the Louisiana
purchase
- Many Americans took this growth for granted as evidence of God’sgrace to the
virtuous republic
- During ht e1840’s an expansionists group affiliated with the Democracitc party
called themselves the Young American Movement
- They proclaimed it wasmanifest desticny of the United States to to overspread
and to posess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the
development of the great experiment of liberty
A. Manifest Destiny and Slavery
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
III.
The Westering Impulse
The Hispanic Southwest
The Oregon and California Trails
The Mormon Migration
The Republic of Texas
The Annexation Controversy
Acquisition of Texas and Oregon
The Mexican War
A. Military Campaign of 1846
B. Military Campaign of 1847
C.
Antiwar Sentiment
D. The Wilmot Proviso
IV.
The Election of 1848
-
-
-
-
-
The Treaty of Guadlpe Hidalgo did nothing to settle the slavery question in the
new territories
Mexico had abolished slavery, would America reintroduce it?
Many figured the 1848 election would help decide the matter
There were four perspectives on the issue from 4 candidates
Senator John P. Hale (New Hampshire)
o Liberty Party
o Position of those determined to bar slavery from all territories
o Supported the Wilmot Proviso
John C. Calhoun (South Carolina)
o Southern Democrat
o “southern-rights” position
o Challenged Wilmot Proviso
o Introduced resolutions in Feb. 1847 affirming rights of slave owners to
take their human property into any territory
o Constitution protected rights of property
James K. Polk (incumbent) – James Buchanon
o Moderate Democrat
o Endorsed idea of extending the Missouri Compromise 36, 30 line to the
Pacific
o Polk does not seek re-election
o James Buchanon does; he was Secretary of State
Senator Lewis Cass (Michigan)
o Democrat
o Became known as the “Popular sovereignty” position
o Let the settlers of each territory decide for themselves whther to
permit slavery
No matter the candidate, and although no group would admit it – slavery was
the only significant issue in late 1840’s politics
A. The Free Soil Party
- A coalition of defected Whigs who were unhappy with the nomication of
Zachary Taylor and anti-slavery democrats met in a convention in August 1848
- The Free Soil Party proclaimed slavery as a barbaric and a social and moral evil
– called for the abolition of slavery
- They nominated former President Martin Van Buren
- Whig candidate Zachary Taylor wins the election
o He was a war hero from the Mexican War
o He was a slave holder which helped him carry 8 out of 15 slave states
V.
The Compromise of 1850
- Prigg v Pennsylvania (1842) had relieved states of the responsibility of any
obligation to return fugitive slaves
- Southerners demanded a strong national fugitive slave law, which was in
disregard to their states rights commitment
- The new expansion issue threatening disunion was over Texas and New Mexico
A. The Senate Debates
- Henry Clay responds again with a compromise
o He is 72 and a 30 year veteran of Congress
o Lost the presidency 3X
o Hoped to unite North and South in compromise
-
On January 29, 1850 he submits 8 proposals
o California as a free state, rest of New Mexico without restrictions
o Texas boundry dispute in favor of New Mexico, but Texas would be
compensated to pay of its large debts
o Slavery would be banned in D.C. but would introduce a fugitive slave
law
B. Passage of the Compromise
- With debate over the compromise intense and passage looking doubtful, Clay
left Congressional sessions and left Stephen Douglas of Illinois to lead the force
for Compromise
- President Zachary Taylor would die in the middle of the Compromise debate on
july 9, 1850 from gastroenteritis
- Millard Fillmore, a conservative Whig from New York, would be the new
president and would support the Compromise
- The Compromise of 1850 soon passed
- The only issue of the compromise that would lead to further trouble would be
the fugitive slave law
C.
The Fugitive Slave Law
- The compromise of 1850 outlined for the first time detailed measures on how
escaped slaves would be returned
- It created a federal commission who could issue arrest warrants of fugitives
- To prove ownership all they needed was an avidavit from a slave state court or
a white witness
- Those who harbored fugitive slaves could be fined or imprisoned
- Northerners detested this law
o Many passed new personal liberty laws in defiance of the south
 These laws did not make it impossible to recover slaves, but
they made it very expensive and time consuming
o Many uprisings started to free black captives from fugitive courts
o The failure of the north to honor the Fugitive Slave Law became a bitter
grievance of the south and many would later state it as reasons for
seceding in 1861
- Franklin Pierce would be elected in 1852 to inherit a bitter and growing divide
between the North and the South
o Democrat from New Hampshire
o A northern man with southern principles
o Supported annexing Cuba, which would uphold slavery
o Offered Spain $130 million and supported Cuban revolution
o
D. The Slave-Catchers
E.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
-
Novel inspired by the plight o ffugitive slaves
Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Daughter of Lymna Beecher
The central these is the tragedy of the breakup of families by slavery
It changed middle class views on slavery with an emotional heart wrenching
account