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Chapter 10
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Southerners believed article 4 section 2 of the constitution game them the right to
retrieve an enslaved person who fled across state lines. Many northerners opposed
those ideas, thus sheltering runaways and helping them escape
Polk, a southern democrat and slaveholder, believed any argument about slavery in
the new territory was crazy. No one would take enslaved Africans to the southwest.
The dry climate would not run support the kinds of farming that made slavery
profitable
August 1846, representative David Wilmot, a democrat from Pennsylvania
proposed an addition to war appropriations bill. His amendment known as the
Wilmot Proviso, proposed that slavery not involuntary servitude shall never exist
Northern democrats believed Polk was “pro-southern”. Polk had supported a new
tariff that helped the south at the expense of northern manufactures. He then
compromised with the British on Oregon, a territory where slavery was likely to be
banned, but had gone to war against Mexico for land that Southerners would
occupy
The Wilmot Proviso enraged southerners, however, the house of representative
passed it
Senator John C. Calhoun (SC) prepared a series of resolutions to counter the
Wilmot Proviso-but never went to vote. In the resolutions, Calhoun argued that the
states owned the territories of the US in common, and that Congress has no right to
ban slavery in the territories
Calhoun warned that “political revolution, anarchy, and civil war” would surely
erupt if the north failed to heed southern concerns
Senator Lewis Case of Michigan proposed that the citizens of each new territory
should be allowed to decide for themselves if they wanted to permit slavery or not.
(Popular Sovereignty)
1848 election:
o Democrat Lewis Case of Michigan supported the idea of Popular
Sovereignty in the west
o Van Buren led the free-soil party, which took a strong position against
slavery in the territories and backed the Wilmot Proviso
o General Zachary Taylor, Whig candidate, avoided the whole issue
Zachary Taylor won the election of 1848
Within a year of Taylor’s inauguration, the issue of slavery once again took center
state. The discovery of gold in California had quickly led to that territory’s
application for statehood. Decisions had to be made-if California could enter the
union as a free or slave state.
End of 1849, nearly 80,000 “forty-niners” had arrived for gold and California began
to organize for statehood
With Taylor’s encouragement, California applied in December 1849 for admission
to the union as a free state. (Taylor thought slavery’s survival depended on its
expansion westward
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If California entered the union as a free state, the slave holding states would become
a minority in the senate. Many southern politicians began to talk openly of
secession.
Early in 1850, Henry Clay of Kentucky tried to find a compromise that would
enable California to join the union. Clay proposed 8 resolutions to solve the crisis
Grouped in pairs, the 1st called for California to come in as a free state but
organized the rest of the Mexican cession without restrictions on slavery. 2nd
settled the border between new Mexico and Texas in favor of new Mexico but
compensated Texas by having federal government take on its debts. 3rd outlawed
the slave trade in Washington dc, but did not outlaw slavery itself. 4th were
concessions to the south. Congress would be prohibited from interfering with the
domestic slave trade and would pass a new fugitive slave act to help southerners
recover enslaved African Americans who had fled north
Clay’s proposal triggered massive debates
Calhoun’s response asserted flatly that northern agitation against slavery threatened
to destroy the south. He did not think clay’s compromise would save the union. If
the southern states could not live in safety within the union, Calhoun darkly
predicted, secession was the only honorable solution.
Compromise of 1850:
o In the end, congress did not pass Clay’s bill, in part because Taylor opposed
it. Then unexpectedly, Taylor died in office that summer. VP Millard
Fillmore quickly threw his support behind the Compromise.
o By the end of the summer, Calhoun was dead of TB; Webster accepted the
position of Secretary of State. 37 year old Stephen Douglas divided the
large compromise into several smaller bills, allowing his colleagues from
different sections to abstain or vote against whatever parts they disliked.
o By fall, congress had passed all parts of the original proposal as Clay had
envisioned and Fillmore had signed them into law. The Compromise of
1850 eased tensions over slavery---temporarily
Section 2
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Uncle Tom’s Cabin—written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Her depiction of the
enslaved hero, Tom, and the villainous overseer, Simon Legree, changed
northerners perceptions of African American’s and slavery.
Stowe presented African Americans as real people imprisoned in dreadful
circumstances. Because she saw herself as a painter of slavery’s horror’s rather
than an abstract dealer.
Southerners tried unsuccessfully to have the novel banned and strongly stacked
its portrayal of slavery, accusing Stowe of writing “distortions” and “false
hoods”
Under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, a person claiming that an African
American had escaped from slavery had only to point out that person as a
runaway to take him or her into custody. The accused would then be brought
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before a federal commissioner. African Americans accused of being fugitives
had no right to a trial and were not allowed to testify in court
The law also included a financial incentive for the federal commissioners to find
in favor of the slaveholder. The commissioners received $10 if he decided for
the slaveholder, but only $5 if the decision went the other way.
The law also required federal marshals to help seize runaways and to deputize
citizens to help capture them.
Underground Railroad:
 Although the fugitive slave act included heavy fines and prison terms of helping a
runaway, whites and free African Americans continued their work with the
Underground Railroad. This informal but well organized system, begun in the early
1830’s helped thousands of enslaved persons escape. Members called “conductors”
transported runaways north in secret, gave them shelter and food along the way, and
saw them to freedom in the northern states or Canada with some money and a fresh
start
o Harriet Tubman, herself a runaway, was the most famous conductor. She
risked trips to the south to guide enslaved persons to freedom
Transcontinental Railroad
 Concerns began to grow about connecting the west coast with the rest of the
country. Many agreed that a transcontinental railroad was necessary. The railroad
would reduce the journey to four easy days, while promoting settlement and growth
along the route.
 The railroad had broad appeal, but again sectional differences brought about a
struggle for the north and south. Many southerners preferred a southern route from
New Orleans, but the geography of the southwest required the railroad to pass
through northern Mexico. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, a strong supporter of
the south’s interests, sent James Gadsden from SC to buy land from Mexico. The
Mexican leader Santa Anna agreed to sell a 30,000 sq mile strip of land that is today
part of southern Arizona and New Mexico. In 1853, Mexico accepted $10 million
for the territory, known as the Gadsden Purchase
 Stephen Douglas, a democratic senator from Illinois wanted it to go through
Chicago, but the land west of Missouri and Iowa had to be settled first.
 1853, Douglas prepared a bill to organize the region into a new territory to be called
Nebraska. Although the house of rep’s passed the bill quickly, southern senators
who controlled key committees refused to go along, and they prevented the bill
from coming to a vote. The senators made it clear that if the bill was to pass, he
needed to repeal the Missouri compromise and make the new territory open to
slavery
Kansas-Nebraska Act
 Nebraska was opened up as a free territory and Kansas was opened up to popular
sovereignty where the citizens of that territory go to choose their government. May
1954
 Officially repealed the Missouri Compromise
Bleeding Kansas
 Kansas was the first battleground of those opposing slavery and those supporting
slavery.
 People moving from surrounding states brought their slaves and free-soilers
protested against it. Missouri citizens known as ‘border ruffians’ went into Kansas
to vote for slavery and caused a bloody battle where they attacked the anti-slavery
town of Lawrence, Kansas.
Birth of Republican Party
 When the Kansas-Nebraska act repealed the Missouri Compromise, it enraged
many people who opposed the extension of slavery
 Whigs and Democrats were split over the issue of slavery. Members of the whig
party, free-soilers, and northern democrats joined forces to form the Republican
Party
Dred Scott Decision:
 March 1957, President Buchanan urged people to let the Supreme Court decide the
issue of slavery.
 Southern members of congress had pressured the justices to issue a ruling on
slavery in the territories. They issued their ruling in the case of Dred Scott v.
Sanford
 Scott was an enslaved man whose Missouri slaveholder had taken him to live in
free territory before returning to Missouri. Assisted by abolitionists, Scott sued to
end slavery, arguing that the time he had spent in free territory meant he was free.
 On march 6, 1857, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney delivered the majority opinion
 The SC had ruled against Scott because African Americans were not citizens and
therefore could not sue in courts. Taney then addressed the Missouri Compromise’s
ban on slavery in territory north of Missouri’s southern border saying the
government could not ban slavery and that the MO Compromise was
unconstitutional.
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
 Lincoln was running against Stephen Douglas for senate. They debated issues such
as Slavery where Lincoln gave his famous “A house divided against itself cannot
stand” speech.
 Lincoln was not an abolitionist, yet he believed slavery to morally wrong and
opposed its spread into western territories. Douglas supported popular sovereignty.
 Douglas won the election for senate
John Browns Raid
 John Brown was a fervent abolitionist who said it was his duty to break the jaws of
the wicked. In 1859, he developed a plan to seize the federal arsenal at Harpers
Ferry, VA, free and arm the enslaved people of the neighborhood, and began an
insurrection against slaveholders
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Oct 16, 1859, Brown and 18 followers seized the arsenal. Robert E Lee led the
military forces that captured Brown and his followers.
A Virginia court tried and convicted Brown and sentenced him to death
Section 4
Election of 1860
 Lincoln is nominated to run for president for the Republican party
 Lincoln is elected with NO SOUTHERN SUPPORT
 Lincoln’s election greatly alarmed southern states and they began to withdraw or
secede from the union.
 South Carolina was first to secede followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama,
Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia eventually
withdrew. When VA joined the CSA, the capital was moved to Richmond.
 Robert E Lee took command of the CSA troops and Jefferson Davis became
president
 The Confederate Constitution guaranteed slavery, each state was independent, and
the presidency was limited to one six year term.
Fort Sumter
 Off the coast of Charleston SC, it was the last federal arsenal that had not been
taken over. Lincoln vowed to fight if it was taken over by CSA troops. The CSA
bombed Ft. Sumter and eventually won. This was the first battle of the Civil War.
Border States
 The following states were NEUTRAL. They did not secede with the south but they
did not fully support the USA.
o Kentucky-occupied by union and CSA troops-two govts that were at war
o Missouri-didn’t secede but troops joined the CSA
o Maryland-Lincoln enacted martial law to keep MD neutral
o Deleware
o West Virginia (broke away from VA when they joined the CSA)