Download The Compromise of 1850

The American Nation
Chapter 16
Slavery Divides the
Nation, 1820–1861
Copyright © 2003 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
The American Nation
Chapter 16: Slavery Divides the Nation, 1820–1861
Section 1:
Slavery in the Territories
Section 2:
The Compromise of 1850
Section 3:
The Crisis Deepens
Section 4:
The Republican Party Emerges
Section 5:
A Nation Divides
Copyright © 2003 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
Slavery in the Territories
Chapter 16, Section 1
• What was the purpose of the Missouri
Compromise?
• Why did conflict arise over the issue of
slavery in the western territories?
• Why was the Free-Soil party founded?
The Missouri Compromise
Chapter 16, Section 1
In 1819, there were 11 free states and 11 slave states.
Representation in the Senate was evenly balanced between
the North and the South.
Missouri wanted to join the Union as a slave state. That would
give the South a majority in the Senate.
Henry Clay proposed the Missouri Compromise.
• Missouri would join the Union as a slave state.
• Maine would join the Union as a free state.
• Congress drew an imaginary line across the southern
border of Missouri at latitude 36º30´N. Slavery would be
permitted in the Louisiana Purchase south of that line.
The Issue of Slavery in the West
Chapter 16, Section 1
The Problem
As a result of the Mexican War, the United States
acquired a vast amount of land. The Missouri
Compromise applied only to the Louisiana Purchase, not
the new western lands.
The Argument
North:
Congressman David Wilmot of Pennsylvania called for a
law to ban slavery in any territories won from Mexico.
This proposal was known as the Wilmot Proviso.
South:
Southern leaders said Congress had no right to ban
slavery in the West.
The Outcome
The house passed the Wilmot Proviso, but the Senate
defeated it. The argument continued.
The Issue of Slavery in the West
Chapter 16, Section 1
Abolitionists
Slavery should be banned throughout the country. It is
morally wrong.
Southern
slaveholders
Slavery should be allowed in any territory. Slaves who
escape to the North should be returned.
Other views
• The Missouri Compromise line should be extended all
across the Mexican Cession. Any state south of the line
could allow slavery.
• States carved out of the Mexican Cession should
decide the slavery issue by popular sovereignty;
that is, voters in a new territory should decide for
themselves whether or not to allow slavery.
The Founding of the Free-Soil Party
Chapter 16, Section 1
In 1848, slavery became an important election
issue for the first time.
• Many northern Democrats and Whigs opposed
the spread of slavery.
• They did not speak up because they did not
want to lose southern votes. Also, they feared
the slavery issue would split the nation.
• In 1848, antislavery members of both parties
formed the Free-Soil party. Only a few
members were abolitionists. The party’s main
goal was to keep slavery out of the western
territories.
Section 1 Assessment
Chapter 16, Section 1
The main purpose of the Missouri Compromise was
a) to abolish slavery in all of the Louisiana Purchase.
b) to allow slavery in all of the Louisiana Purchase.
c) to keep the Union from splitting.
d) to keep slavery out of the Mexican Cession.
People who favored popular sovereignty argued that
a) voters in a new territory should decide whether to allow slavery there.
b) the Missouri Compromise line should be extended across the Mexican
Cession.
c) slavery should be banned completely everywhere in the country.
d) slavery should be allowed everywhere in the country.
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Section 1 Assessment
Chapter 16, Section 1
The main purpose of the Missouri Compromise was
a) to abolish slavery in all of the Louisiana Purchase.
b) to allow slavery in all of the Louisiana Purchase.
c) to keep the Union from splitting.
d) to keep slavery out of the Mexican Cession.
People who favored popular sovereignty argued that
a) voters in a new territory should decide whether to allow slavery there.
b) the Missouri Compromise line should be extended across the Mexican
Cession.
c) slavery should be banned completely everywhere in the country.
d) slavery should be allowed everywhere in the country.
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The Compromise of 1850
Chapter 16, Section 2
• Why did the slavery debate erupt again in
1850?
• What was the impact of the Compromise of
1850?
• How did Uncle Tom’s Cabin affect attitudes
toward slavery?
The Slavery Debate Erupts Again
Chapter 16, Section 2
The Slavery Debate Erupts Again
Chapter 16, Section 2
• In 1849, there were 15 slave states and 15 free states.
California asked to enter the Union as a free state.
• If California entered the Union as a free state, the North
would have a majority in the Senate. The South feared that
Oregon, Utah, and New Mexico would also soon join the
Union as free states.
• Some southerners worried that they would be outvoted in
the Senate. They said southern states should secede, or
remove themselves, from the United States.
• Northerners said that California should be allowed to enter
the Union as a free state because most of the territory lay
north of the Missouri Compromise line.
The Slavery Debate Erupts Again
The Argument in the Senate
Chapter 16, Section 2
Henry Clay of Kentucky
He pleaded for the North and South to reach an
agreement and warned that the nation could break
apart.
John C. Calhoun of
South Carolina
• He refused to compromise and insisted that
slavery be allowed in the western territories.
• He demanded that fugitive, or runaway, slaves
be returned to their owners as lost “property.”
• He said that if the North did not agree to these
demands, the South would use force to leave
the Union.
Daniel Webster of
Massachusetts
• He felt that slavery was evil, but the breakup of
the United States would be worse.
• He warned against civil war, a war between
people of the same country.
• He thought that northerners should be forced to
return fugitive slaves.
The Compromise of 1850
Chapter 16, Section 2
Upholds
popular
sovereignty in
New Mexico
and Utah
Admits
California as a
free state
Settles
Texas/New
Mexico
border
dispute
Compromise
of 1850
Includes
Fugitive
Slave Act
Bans slave
trade in
Washington,
D.C.
The Compromise of 1850
Chapter 16, Section 2
Impact of the Compromise of 1850
Chapter 16, Section 2
Provisions of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
• All citizens must help catch runaway slaves.
• People who let fugitives escape could be fined $1,000 and jailed.
• Special courts would handle cases of runaways. There would be
no jury trials. Judges would receive $10 for sending an accused
runaway to the South and $5 for setting someone free.
Response to the Fugitive Slave Act
• Some judges sent African Americans to the South whether or not
they were runaways.
• The act enraged antislavery northerners. It made them feel as if
they were part of the slave system.
• Tensions remained high because neither side got what it wanted.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Chapter 16, Section 2
What is Uncle Tom’s Cabin?
Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote a novel called Uncle Tom’s
Cabin to show the evils of slavery and the injustice of the
Fugitive Slave Act. The book tells the story of Uncle Tom,
an enslaved African American noted for his kindness and
piety.
How did people react to Uncle Tom’s Cabin?
Northerners
Southerners
Northerners could no longer view slavery
as a political problem for Congress to
settle. More and more northerners now saw
slavery as a moral problem facing every
American.
Southerners claimed that the book did not
give a true picture of a slave’s life.
Section 2 Assessment
Chapter 16, Section 2
Which one of the following statements was NOT a part of the Compromise of
1850?
a) California was admitted to the Union as a free state.
b) The slave trade ended in Washington, D.C.
c) Southern states that objected to the compromise could secede
peacefully.
d) A strict fugitive slave law required northerners to return runaway
slaves.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin affected attitudes toward slavery because it
a) described the cruelty of slavery.
b) showed that most slaveholders acted as kind guardians.
c) argued that northerners didn’t really know what slavery was like.
d) explained why northerners should return fugitive slaves.
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Section 2 Assessment
Chapter 16, Section 2
Which one of the following statements was NOT a part of the Compromise of
1850?
a) California was admitted to the Union as a free state.
b) The slave trade ended in Washington, D.C.
c) Southern states that objected to the compromise could secede
peacefully.
d) A strict fugitive slave law required northerners to return runaway
slaves.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin affected attitudes toward slavery because it
a) described the cruelty of slavery.
b) showed that most slaveholders acted as kind guardians.
c) argued that northerners didn’t really know what slavery was like.
d) explained why northerners should return fugitive slaves.
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Section 5 Assessment
Chapter 16, Section 5
To many southerners, Lincoln’s election meant southern states had to secede
from the Union because
a) the Democratic party had split in two.
b) they believed that Lincoln’s election meant the South no longer had a
voice in the national government.
c) they were looking for a way to compromise.
d) they wanted to save the Union.
The Civil War began when
a) Southern Democrats all voted for Breckinridge.
b) South Carolina seceded from the Union.
c) the Confederates fired on Fort Sumter.
d) Lincoln sent a shipload of weapons to Fort Sumter.
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