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The Impending Crisis
Brinkley text Chapter 13
Unresolved Issues
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Unresolved issues by 1850:
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The idea of “nullification” never really resolved
Could states refuse to obey or enforce federal
laws they believed to be unconstitutional?
Uneasy slavery/non-slavery solution of Missouri
Compromise
Lack of new areas in US into which slavery could
legally be extended
Manifest Destiny
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Notion emerged in the 1840s, term first used in
1839
“American Exceptionalism” – the American people
and their institutions are “virtuous”
America has a mission to “redeem and remake” the
rest of the world by spreading its virtue and
institutions
It is the “destiny” of America to do this -- “History
indicates that God himself wants USA to expand
over North America”
Manifest Destiny
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Major Manifest
Destiny
presidents
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John Tyler
(1841-1845)
James K. Polk
(1845-1849)
The Impending Crisis
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Large American migration to Texas, 1822-26
Mexican government became alarmed, closed
off further migration
In 1835, Texas revolted against Mexico
Mexican War began
The Impending Crisis
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Texans under General Sam Houston won
decisive battle San Jacinto
Texas is now an independent country, the
“Lone Star Republic”
Texas applied for admission to United States
The Impending Crisis
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President Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)
objected to the admission of Texas
President Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)
objected to the admission of Texas
President William Henry Harrison (1841)
objected to the admission of Texas
Finally, in 1844, President John Tyler (18411845) encouraged the admission of Texas
US-Canada Border dispute
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British version: 49th parallel (49º00”, present
boundary with Canada)
Manifest Destiny version: 54º40” – “or
fight!”
US-Canada Border dispute
The Impending Crisis
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In spite of various international disputes over
Texas and Oregon, US migration continued
into both territories throughout the 1840s
The Impending Crisis
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James K. Polk elected President in 1844
Supported by Southern Democrats
Democrats pushed expansion, esp. Southern
Democrats (why?)
Polk secured Oregon for US by treaty, with
boundary at 49th parallel
Did not “cave in” to critics: his eye on a
bigger prize -- California
The Impending Crisis
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Texas finally admitted to the Union in 1845
During the administration of James K. Polk
The Mexican government was furious
Among other disagreements: where was legal
southern boundary of Texas?
Mexican version: Nueces River
Texican version: Rio Grande River
Note: Nueces
River north of
Rio Grande
Note: size of
what Mexicans
called
“California”
The Impending Crisis
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Polk sent Gen. Zachary Taylor to Texas to police the
disputed territory
Most likely, Taylor had secret orders to provoke
Mexicans into shooting at US troops
Meanwhile, Polk sent envoy John Slidell to Mexico
with offer to buy disputed land
Offer refused; months later, Mexican troops fired on
US soldiers
War began in 1846
The Impending Crisis
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Official cause: Mexico fired upon US troops
Actual cause: solve boundary disputes, win a
quick war, claim California as prize
Whig Party (old anti-Jackson organization)
opposed war: phony cause, real reason is to
expand slavery
War not over quickly (1846-1848)
The Impending Crisis
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Some in Congress demanded all of Mexico as
the prize of war, with no payment
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo more lenient:
US buys California, New Mexico for $15
million; settles Texas boundary at Rio Grande
Southerners happy, though had wanted more
Abolitionists greatly dissatisfied
The Impending Crisis
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Abolitionist David Wilmot (PA) added a
proviso (condition) to treaty: no new slavery
in these lands, now called “The Mexican
Cession” (NOT “Mexican Session”)
Polk preferred extending Missouri
Compromise line instead
Wilmot Proviso failed, though the idea was
brought up again and again over next ten
years
The Impending Crisis
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Polk declined to run again in 1848; Whigs
nominated war hero Zachary Taylor.
1848 a 3-party election: Democrats, Whigs,
and new “Free Soil” Party
“Free soilers” not a real abolition party:
wanted an end to slavery and immediate
expatriation of all black persons out of the US
The Impending Crisis
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Election close, and re-aligned members of all
parties.
Few anti-slavery Democrats and those who
disliked the limited goals of Free Soil Party
felt without any political home
Standard politicians of all parties tried to
avoid tackling slavery question directly
The Impending Crisis
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Just before election, Gold was discovered in CA
Polk urged a speeded-up timetable for CA, wanting
the gold revenues quickly in Union
36º30” line unworkable in this case: would split CA
in half
California applied for statehood in 1849 as a free
state
Slavery question exploded again
The Impending Crisis
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Question: what to do with Missouri
Compromise line, worked for 30 years to
solve slave/free territorial questions?
Democrat politicians had new solution:
popular sovereignty (let the people of each
territory decide for themselves, keep Congress
out of it)
The Impending Crisis
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New political crisis in 1850 over CA, and all
lands in ceded land from Mexico
Aging Henry Clay once again put together a
clumsy compromise to solve
No way to divide California was satisfactory,
so the Missouri Compromise had to be
abandoned once and for all
The Impending Crisis
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1.
2.
3.
4.
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Resulting compromise:
California will be a “free” state
In all the other lands ceded by Mexico, the issue to
be decided by popular sovereignty
Slave market in Washington DC closed
Fugitive slave laws tightened
Was an “omnibus bill” – contained many
provisions, take it or leave it
A vote for the bill = vote in favor of each
provision
The Impending Crisis
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Old politicians who had skillfully avoided a
slavery crisis were dying out in the 1850s
New younger leaders fell into 3 opinions:
1. Popular Sovereignty advocates
2. Outright anti-slavery advocates
3. Outright pro-slavery advocates
The Impending Crisis
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Taylor died summer 1850
VP Millard Fillmore was spectacularly
unqualified to be president
Popular sovereignty advocate Stephen
Douglas (D-IL) was ambitious for presidency
Douglas wanted to be “new face of
Democrats,” but Southerners distrusted him
Stephen Douglas
The Impending Crisis
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Whig party had died out by 1852 election
Democrats nominated Franklin Pierce (no
clear position on slavery)
His “Young America” program stressed
“expanding democracy” and avoided all other
issues
Free Soil Party split over emancipation vs.
expatriation
The Impending Crisis
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Pierce was elected in 1852
Pierce had no clear plan for the country
Southern Democrats launched search for any
new country suitable to extend slavery
Pierce tried to accommodate them; sent
envoys to negotiate purchase of Cuba
The Impending Crisis
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Even plans for a new railroad line across the
Cession territories became tangled in slavery
question
Where to plan RR?
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A route across northern territories (now Iowa,
North Dakota, etc.) favored by North
A route across the southern territories (Arkansas,
Louisiana, Oklahoma) favored by Southerners
(transport slaves)
The Impending Crisis
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Pierce sent Secretary of War
Jefferson Davis to negotiate
one last land purchase to
facilitate southern route
(Gadsden Purchase)
This seemed to indicate that
Pierce was pro-Slavery
Northerners and abolitionists
outraged
The Impending Crisis
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Stephen Douglas was ambitious for the
presidency
Douglas countered with proposal:
Admit Kansas and Nebraska to Union
(facilitate RR through those new states)
“Popular Sovereignty” on the slavery question
(let the “will of the people” decide)
The Impending Crisis
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Nebraska was too far north for cotton (and
therefore slavery)
Kansas to be decided by local vote
Pierce supported the Kansas-Nebraska Bill
The Impending Crisis
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Led to “Bleeding Kansas”
Outsiders on both sides of
slavery question moved into
Kansas to affect the vote
Radical abolitionist John Brown
one example
John Brown and his sons
massacred pro-slavery people at
Pottawattomie Creek, Kansas,
while they slept
John Brown
The Impending Crisis
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Summer 1856: a pro-slavery advocate, Representative
Preston Brooks (MS) beat Senator Charles Sumner
(MA) nearly to death on the floor of the Senate with
his cane.
The Impending Crisis
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Sumner eventually returned to the Senate, but
remained partially disabled for the rest of his
life
This incident further split pro- and antislavery Americans
The Impending Crisis
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Free Soil Party hoped to solve with emphasis
on freedom, democracy – divert from slavery
“Free men, free soil” did not advocate
abolition; advocated substituting wage labor
for slave labor
Their only Goal: stop the spread of slavery
For Abolitionists, this was not enough
The Impending Crisis
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1856 election:
Democrats dumped Pierce
Nominated James Buchanan of PA (whose
advantage was that he had no known views on
slavery)
Free Soilers chose John C. Fremont, hero of War
with Mexico
American Liberty Party (Know-Nothings)
nominated VP Millard Fillmore
The Impending Crisis
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Buchanan won; worst possible choice,
particularly given the times
Newly-founded Republican Party (outright
anti-slavery) began to gain membership and
attention
Membership grew stronger after Dred Scott
decision in 1857
Dred Scott
The Impending Crisis
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Dred Scott was a slave whose owner had
moved to Wisconsin, a free state
Scott claimed that he had a right to stay in
Wisconsin when his owner moved back south
Circuit court that first heard Scott’s suit
agreed, and set him free
Owner counter-sued, Supreme Court heard
case
The Impending Crisis
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Aging Chief Justice Roger Taney
presided, wrote majority opinion
Scott is not free
Reasons:
1. Missouri Compromise 36º30”
line is unconstitutional
2. “A Black Man has no rights that
a white person is bound to
protect”
The Impending Crisis
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Meanwhile, Kansas was applying for
admission to the Union
In 1861, Kansas was admitted to the Union as
a free state
At the same time, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s
Uncle Tom’s Cabin was further inflaming
already “raw nerves” in country
The Impending Crisis
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Illinois U.S. Senate election 1858 reflected unease
Stephen Douglas (Democrat, incumbent Senator, pro
popular sovereignty)
vs. Abraham Lincoln (former U.S. Representative,
member of new Republican Party)
Many debates during election
Douglas’ only solution to slavery: “Popular
Sovereignty”
“Let the people decide, keep the government out of
it”
The Impending Crisis
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Both Lincoln and Douglas men had presidential
ambitions
Southern Democrats warily supportive of Douglas
Lincoln’s question to Douglas at Freeport, Illinois
debate:
“If you allow voters to decide, couldn’t they decide
ANTI-slavery? How will your Southern supporters
feel about that?”
Douglas won the Senate election, but the South
turned on Douglas
John Brown
1859: John Brown
and his sons came out
of hiding, raided federal
arsenal at Harper’s Ferry,
VA, to arm slaves for a
Revolt
 Captured by Robert E.
Lee
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The Impending Crisis
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Brown captured, tried, hanged as a traitor
For Abolitionists, he was a martyr
For Southerners, he proved that all
abolitionists were treasonous men
President Buchanan strangely quiet on all this
The Impending Crisis
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All this as background to 1860 election:
Dem party splintered into Northern and Southern
segments; no consensus candidate
4 major candidates running:
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Abraham Lincoln (Republicans)
Senator Stephen Douglas (Northern Democrats)
Vice President John Breckenridge (Southern Democrats)
Minor candidate (John Bell) from “Constitutional Union”
Party
The Impending Crisis
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Large number of candidates split vote
Lincoln did not receive a majority of the
popular vote -- won a 39.8% plurality
But won enough large, populous northern
states to win in the Electoral College
Southerners, remembering his debates with
Douglas, feared him as an abolitionist
Threatened to secede if he was elected
The Impending Crisis
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By the time of Lincoln’s inauguration March
1861, 5 southern states had seceded
Buchanan refused to stop them; “I’m leaving
office, don’t want to make a problem Lincoln
will have to fix”
Lincoln came to DC in disguise; many
assassination threats