The Coming Crisis
SSUSH8 The student will explain the relationship between growing north-south divisions and westward expansion.
b. Explain the Missouri Compromise and the issue of slavery in western states and territories.
e. Explain the Compromise of 1850.
SSUSH9 The student will identify key events, issues, and individuals relating to the causes, course, and consequences
of the Civil War.
a. Explain the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the failure of popular sovereignty.
Missouri Compromise of 1820
• The admission of Missouri into the Union in 1819 brought on
much debate in Congress because of the issue of slavery
• The balance of free to slave states was 11 to 11 and northern
states worried that the admission of Missouri as a slave state
would upset that balance
Missouri Compromise continued
• After months of debate, the Congress (led by Henry Clay)
finally reached a compromise that had 2 main points
• slavery would not be restricted in Missouri and Maine would
be admitted as a free state
1. as the U.S. expanded westward, territories north of 36° 30’ N
in the Louisiana Purchase would be closed to slavery (territory
from southern border of Missouri north)
Map of US in 1821: Missouri
Compromise
Compromise of 1833
• a tariff was enacted to protect southern profits that were
flowing to the north
• this proved the south could exert some power and helped to
hold off the Civil War a little longer
Map of US in 1837
Wilmot Proviso
• Proposal after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo added
significant territory to the US after the Mexican American
War
• proposed that slavery would be outlawed in all new
lands – this was seen as another step towards civil war
• never passes Congress and never goes into effect
David Wilmot
Map of US in 1846: Proposal of
Wilmot Proviso
Compromise of 1850
• the admission of the territory after the Mexican war was not
covered by the Missouri Compromise – the debate over free
and slave states began again
• 1850 – California asked to join the Union as a free state – this
would again upset the balance
• Clay again negotiated a compromise – it contained 5 parts
Compromise of 1850
1. California would be admitted as a free state
2. the people of the territories of New Mexico and
Utah would decide for themselves
3. Congress would abolish the sale of slaves, but not slavery, in
Washington, D.C.
4. Texas would give up claims to New Mexico for $10 million
5. Fugitive Slave Act would order all citizens of the United States
to assist in the return of escaped slaves – the returned slaves
would then be denied a jury trial
• The compromise was passed, but it settled little more than
admitting California to the Union
• Many Northerners resented the Fugitive Slave Act
Compromise of 1850
Kansas-Nebraska Act
• Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois again raised the issue of
slavery in 1854 – Illinois had 2 things to gain from the
admittance of Kansas and Nebraska in the Union
• Chicago would benefit from running a railroad through Kansas
and Nebraska
• Douglas wanted to be President –
he needed support of Southern Democrats
to win – they would object to admitting
Kansas and Nebraska as free states
Kansas-Nebraska Act continued
• To win support of both, Douglas introduced the KansasNebraska Act – it supported the idea of popular sovereignty –
the idea of letting the citizens of the state choose for
themselves
• Douglas wanted the Missouri Compromise repealed to do this
• The bill passed, but Douglas turned out to be wrong about
almost everything connected with it
Formation of the Republican Party
• After Millard Fillmore’s presidency ended in 1853, the Whigs
lost power due largely to the issue of slavery
• The issues the party was founded on were largely resolved
• This opened the door for a new party who met in opposition
to the Kansas-Nebraska Act
• The Republican Party formed in opposition to slavery and
vowed to fight it