Download Chapter 18: Renewing the Sectional Struggle 1850`s

Chapter 18: Renewing the Sectional
Struggle 1850’s
Lewis Cass Named father of "popular
sovereignty." Ran for president in 1848 but Gen.
Taylor won. The north was against Cass
because popular sovereignty made it possible
for slavery to spread.
Stephen Douglas Stephen Douglas took over
for Henry Clay in the Compromise of 1850. Clay
could not get the compromised passed because
neither party wanted to pass it as a whole since
they would be passing things for the opposite
party as well as their own. Douglas split the
compromise up to get it passed.
Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce was elected
president in the 1852 election as the second
Democratic "dark horse." He was a pro-southern
northerner who supported the Compromise of
1850 and especially the Fugitive Slave Law. He
also tried to gain Cuba for the South as a slave
state, but was stopped because of Northern
public opinion after the incident in Ostend,
Belgium. He also supported the dangerous
Kansas-Nebraska Act pushed for by Senator
Douglas. He was succeeded in 1856 by James
Buchanan.
Zachary Taylor Taylor was a general and hero
of the Mexican-American war. He was elected to
the presidency in 1848, representing the Whig
party. He was a good soldier but a poor
administrator. He was in office during the crisis
of California's admittance to the Union but died
in office before a compromise could be worked
out, and left vice president Filmore to finalize a
deal between the hostile north and south.
John C. Calhoun a sixty-eight year old South
Carolina senator who died in 1850 of
tuberculosis. The tension between the North and
South had not began to build and become
unbearable. An associate delivered a speech
that he wrote which declared slavery okay. He
proposed to leave slavery as it was and restore
the slavocracy by returning the runaway slaves
to their owners. He wanted to preserve the
Union and he believed in the Constitution.
Winfield Scott He was the old general figure
that the Whigs used to symbolize them. Scott,
however, did not win the election of 1852. His
personality did not fit with the masses which cost
him the election. Pierce won the election of
1852. (P.381)
Matthew C. Perry He was the military leader
who convinced the Japanese to sign a treaty in
1853 with the U.S. The treaty allowed for a
commercial foot in Japan which was helpful with
furthering a relationship with Japan.
Henry Clay Should have been nominated by the
Whigs in the 1848 election because he was the
ideal Whig. However, he made too many
speeches which created too many enemies. He
also came up with the Compromise of 1850.
Free-Soil Party The Free-Soil Party was
organized by anti-slavery men in the north,
democrats who were resentful at Polk's actions,
and some conscience Whigs. The Free-Soil
Party was against slavery in the new territories.
They also advocated federal aid for internal
improvements and urged free government
homesteads for settlers. This Free-Soil Party
foreshadowed the emergence of the Republican
party.
Fugitive Slave Law a law passed just before
the Civil War also called the "Bloodhound Bill",
slaves who escaped could not testify in their
behalf and were not allowed a trial by jury. If the
judge in the case freed the slave they would
receive five dollars, if not they would get ten
dollars. Those found helping slaves would be
fined or jailed. This added to the rage in the
North.
Underground Railroad chain of anti-slavery
homes at which slaves were hidden and taken to
the north, Harriet Tubman is known for her role
in this
Compromise 1850 This compromise signed by
Millard Fillmore deals with disputed territory, and
the controversy of whether California should
join. The results were that California joined as a
free state, and what was left of the Mexican
Cession land became New Mexico and Utah,
and did not restrict slavery. The Fugitive Slave
Law would now be enforced. Slave trade in
Washington D.C. would be banned. The
compromise benefited the North more than the
South.
Ostend manifesto The Ostend Manifesto took
place in 1854. A group of southerners met with
Spanish officials in Belgium to attempt to get
more slave territory. They felt this would balance
out congress. They tried to buy Cuba but the
Spanish would not sell it. Southerners wanted to
take it by force and the northerners were
outraged by this thought.
Kansas-Nebraska Act The Kansas-Nebraska
Act, set forth in 1854, said that Kansas and
Nebraska should come into the Union under
popular sovereignty. Senator Stephen A.
Douglas introduced it, and it pushed the country
even closer the Civil War.
William Seward
Higher Law
Franklin Pierce
Jefferson Davis
William Walker
Kansas-Nebraska Act vs. Missouri Compromise