Download 1820-1861 Slavery divides the nation

US History
Fort Burrows
Slavery Divides the Nation – 1820 – 1861
16.1 – Slavery in the Territories
READ pgs 458-462
“Figure out what you’ve got and make it work.”
Warren Merrell, 2004, Cowboy and Owner of Merrell Food Store, Quitaque, TX
Pronounced Kitty Quay - Comanche for ‘End of the Trail’
A small town in the Panhandle East of I-27 on Hwy 86 between Amarillo and Lubbock
Presidents:
1st
1789
nd
2
1797
rd
3
1801
th
4
1809
–
–
–
–
1797
1801
1809
1817
2 terms
1 term
2 terms
2 terms
George Washington – 57
John Adams – 61
Thomas Jefferson – 57
James Madison – 57
5th
6th
1817
1825
–
–
1825
1829
2 terms
1 term
James Monroe – 58
John Quincy Adams – 57
7th
8th
9th
10th
1829
1837
1841
1841
–
–
–
–
1837
1841
1841
1845
2 terms
1 term
Died
1 term
Andrew Jackson – 61
Martin Van Buren – 54
William Henry Harrison – 68
John Tyler –51
11th
12th
1845
1849
–
–
1849
1850
1 term
Died
James K Polk – 49
Zachary Taylor – 64
13th
14th
1850
1853
–
–
1853
1857
1 term
1 term
Millard Fillmore – 50
Franklin Pierce – 48
15th 1857
– 1861
1 term
James Buchanan –65
th
16
1861
– 1865
2 terms
Abraham Lincoln –52, assassinated in office
th
17 1865 – 1869 1 term Andrew Johnson – 50, replaced Lincoln
18th 1869 – 1877 2 terms Ulysses Simpson US Grant - 47
BE READY !!!!
Why this matters to B&B Ranch 8th grade students…
Other than Burrows likes to hear himself talk.
The United States is still torn over the issue of racial equality. Slavery may be a
thing of the past, but its legacy of poverty, inequality, and ignorance still troubles
society.
For example, at the beginning of the 2000s, about 23 percent of African
American families lived below the poverty level compared to 8 percent of white
families. About 26 percent, 1 out of 4, of white Americans had completed 4 or more
years of college education, while about 17 percent of African Americans had done so.
But an even more telling fact is that the average annual earnings of white college
graduates were almost $10,000 higher than those of African American college
graduates. To study the origins of the Civil War will help our students understand
the problems of today and how they came about. We hope to teach you, so that history
will not repeat itself in your lifetime and to prepare each of you to face your future as
AMERICAN CITIZENS.
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US History
Fort Burrows
Time Line:
1820 – the Missouri Compromise maintains the balance of free and slave states
in the Union
1833 – slavery is abolished in the British Empire
1848 – the Free-Soil party is formed to oppose the extension of slavery in the
West
1850 – Congress passes the Compromise of 1850; new law that required all
Americans to help recapture fugitive slaves
fugitive – one who tries to ‘illegally’ escape
1854 – Senator Stephen Douglas proposes the Kansas–Nebraska Act, allowing
new territories to decide whether or not to permit slavery
1854 – slavery is abolished in Venezuela
1857 – Supreme Court rules in Dred Scott v. Sandford case that Congress
cannot ban slavery in any territory
1861 – The Confederate States of America is formed
Confederate troops fire on Fort Sumter, South Carolina; this
bombardment marks the beginning of the Civil War
Main Idea:
The Missouri Compromise attempted to settle the issue of whether slavery
should be allowed in the western territories.
Vocabulary:
Missouri Compromise – agreement proposed in 1819 by Henry Clay, to keep the
number of slave and free states equal
Wilmot Proviso – law passed in 1846 that banned slavery in any territories won
by the US from Mexico
popular sovereignty – a term referring to the idea that each territory could
decide for itself whether or not to allow slavery
Free-Soil Party – bipartisan, antislavery party founded in the US in 1848 to
keep slavery out of the western territories
Setting the Scene:
When he reached his seventies, Thomas Jefferson vowed, ‘never to write, talk, or
even think about politics.’ Still, in 1820 at the age of 77, he broke this vow. Jefferson
voiced alarm at the fierce debate going on in Congress:
“This momentous question, like a fire bell in the night, awakened and
filled me with terror. I considered it at once as the funeral bells of the Union… We
have the wolf by the ears, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go.”
Thomas Jefferson, Letter to John Holmes, April 22, 1820
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US History
Fort Burrows
Jefferson knew the ‘wolf’, or the issue of slavery, could tear the North and South
apart. As settlers moved West, Congress faced an agonizing decision. Should it ban
slavery in the territories and later admit them to the Union as free states? Or should it
permit slavery in the territories and later admit them as slave states? This was the
critical question that filled Jefferson with terror in the night.
The Missouri Compromise
 In 1819, 11 free states and 11 slave states
 Missouri applied for statehood as a slave state; this would give slave states a
majority in the Senate
 Northern free states opposed Missouri entering as a slave state
 During the lengthy congressional debate, Maine applied for statehood as a free
state so Henry Clay made a proposal; The Missouri Compromise
 Clay’s plan called to allow both to join the Union; this would maintain balance, 12
free and 12 slave states
 Congress split the Louisiana Purchase; South of latitude 36◦ 30’ Latitude N could
be slave states and North of the line would be only free states
 Missouri would be the ONLY exception
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US History
Fort Burrows
¿¿ What issues did the Missouri Compromise address ?
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__________________________________________________________________________
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Slavery in the West
 Missouri Compromise only applied to the Louisiana Purchase lands
 After the Mexican War, Mexican Cession, vast amounts of Western lands became
United States Territory
 New questions and debates began again over the question of slavery
Wilmot Proviso
 Northern states feared slavery would extend into the ‘new’ West
 Congressman David Wilmot, called for a law to ban slavery in any Western
Territory won from Mexico
 Naturally, Southern leaders opposed the law
 The House passed the law; the Senate defeated the law
 Slavery argument continued even while the US was fighting with Mexico
Opposing Views
 Abolitionists wanted total ban on slavery in all new territories
 Southerns wanted slavery allowed everywhere
 Also, most ALL Southerners, slave holders or not, agreed that runaway
slaves should be returned and NOT allowed to seek freedom in the North
 Moderates looked for compromise; simply extend the Missouri
Compromise line to the Pacific Ocean – all land North must be free states,
all land South could possibly be slave state
 Popular Sovereignty is born; under this idea, the people that lived in the
territory/state would vote and decide the issue for ‘their own’ state
*** popular means the majority of population as in people
¿¿ How did the slavery debate affect the West ?
Northerns wanted__________________________________________________________
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Southerns wanted__________________________________________________________
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Forced___________________________________________________________________.
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US History
Fort Burrows
The Free-Soil Party
 By 1848, Northern Democrats and Whigs opposed slavery but would not take a
stand in fear of losing Southern support
 Some began to fear the slave issue may split the nation
 Antislavery members from BOTH parties founded the Free-Soil Party
 Intentions to keep slavery out of the Western territories
*** MC Pro Wrestling Voice GET LOUD
Aaaand now… your 1848 Presidential candidates… On the ballot we have
 Free-Soiler and former President ( give it up for the past prez ) Martin Van Buren
 Democratic unknown from the great state of Michigan…Lewwwwis Casssssss
*** Jb & Rb clap European style, sort of mockingly
 The TOP Whig among all whigs, our very own Mexican killin’ hero, from the Rio
Grande Valley and the Mexican / American War, General Zachary Taylor
 Slavery is finally an important NATIONAL issue
 Van Buren called for a slavery ban in the Mexican Cession
 Cass supported popular sovereignty
 And Zach Taylor does not speak (publicly) on the issue – since he is from
Louisiana – it was assumed he was pro-slavery
 And the presidential winner is … Zachary Taylor, Big Whig among Whigs
 Although, 13 Congressional seats did go to Free-Soiler’s; slavery was now indeed a
national issue
1. What was the purpose of the Missouri Compromise ?
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2. Why did conflict arise over the issue of slavery in the in the Western territories ?
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3. Why was the Free-Soil party found ?
__________________________________________________________________________
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