Chapter 18: Renewing the Sectional Struggle 1848 - 1854

What event brought turmoil to the presidency of Zachary Taylor?

A tumultuous event during Taylor's presidency was the discovery of gold in California, causing debate over the legality of bringing slaves over to the newly acquired territory.

Gadsden Purchase

Acquired additional land from Mexico for ten million dollars to facilitate the construction of a southern transcontinental railroad

Compromise of 1850

Admitted California as a free state, opened New Mexico and Utah to popular sovereignty, ended the slave trade (but not slavery itself) in Washington, D.C., and introduced a more stringent fugitive slave law. Widely opposed in both the North and South, it did little to settle the escalating dispute over slavery.

Matthew C. Perry

American naval officer sent by Millard Fillmore to negotiate a trade deal with Japan

Seventh of March Speech

Daniel Webster's impassioned address urging the North to support the Compromise of 1850. Webster argued that topography and climate would keep slavery from becoming entrenched in Mexican Cession territory and urged northerners to make all reasonable concessions to prevent disunion.

What was Calhoun's plan to protect the South

Calhoun planned to protect the South by creating a governmental system where both the North and the South had a president.

Treaty of Kanagawa

Ended Japan's two-hundred-year period of economic isolation, establishing an American consulate in Japan and securing American coaling rights in Japanese ports

Harriet Tubman

Famed conductor on the Underground Railroad

Franklin Pierce

Fourteenth president of the United States

What were the beliefs of the Free Soil Party?

Free Soilers believed in the Wilmot Proviso and were against slavery in the territories, They also advocated federal aid for internal improvements.

California Gold Rush

Inflow of thousands of miners to northern California after news reports of the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in January of 1848 had spread around the world by the end of that year. The onslaught of migrants prompted Californians to organize a government and apply for statehood in 1849.

Underground Railroad

Informal network of volunteers that helped runaway slaves escape from the South and reach free-soil Canada. Seeking to halt the flow of runaway slaves to the North, southern planters and congressmen pushed for a stronger fugitive slave law.

How was slavery impacted by the push for a transcontinental railroad?

Labor was needed for constructing the railroad, and slavery was the cheapest form of labor available. As such the slave drive was reinvigorated.

Caleb Cushing

Massachusetts-born congressman and diplomat who "opened" China to US trade, negotiating the Treaty of Wanghia in 1844

Zachary Taylor

Military general and twelfth US president

Millard Fillmore

New York congressman and vice president under Taylor

Popular sovereignty

Notion advanced before the Civil War that the sovereign people of a given territory should decide whether to allow slavery. Seemingly a compromise, it was largely opposed by northern abolitionists, who feared it would promote the spread of slavery to the territories.

Fugitive Slave Law

Passed as part of the Compromise of 1850, it set high penalties for anyone who aided escaped slaves and compelled all law enforcement officers to participate in retrieving runaways. Strengthened the antislavery cause in the North.

What Caribbean island did many Southerners want to acquire? Why?

Southerners wanted to acquire Cuba due to its rich sugar economy, large population of blacks, and its geographical location, which was near Florida.

William Walker

Tennessee-born adventurer who made several forays into Central America in the 1850s

Who were the "young guard"? Views?

The young guard was the group of newer leaders who had not grown up with the Union. Thus they were more interested in purging and purifying the country than preserving it.

What did national parties often do to maintain national unity in regards to the slavery issue?

They sat on the lid of the slavery issue and ignored the boiling beneath, i.e. they ignored the controversy.

Lewis Cass

War veteran, diplomat, and US senator, ran as Democratic candidate and lost to Zachary Taylor

Free Soil Party

Antislavery party in the 1848 and 1852 elections that opposed the extension of slavery into the territories, arguing that the presence of slavery would limit opportunities for free laborers.

What were the major events during the debates of 1850?

Congress allowed popular sovereignty in MN and UT territories, the north was upset over the new fugitive slave law, many northern states past "personal liberty laws" in response to fugitive slave law, both the north and the south didn't like the fugitive slave slave law

How did Douglas propose to address slavery in Kansas and Nebraska?

Douglas proposed the Kansas Nebraska Act, which proposed that both Kansas and Nebraska would vote on slavery through popular sovereignty.

What was the impact of the Mexican War on the slavery issue?

Due to the Mexican War, slavery, which had been a bottled up issue, became the hottest controversy once again, as here were disputes over the presence of slavery in the newly acquired territories.

Why did the Free Soilers condemn slavery?

Free-soilers feared that blacks, both free and enslaved, posed a threat to whites in taking jobs, as whites charged a higher price for working than did blacks, where slaves were free and free blacks were easily cheaper than white workers.

What does the term "popular sovereignty" mean?

Popular sovereignty is the notion that the sovereign people of a given territory should decide whether to allow slavery or not.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Proposed that the issue of slavery be decided by popular sovereignty in the Kansas and Nebraska Territories, thus revoking the 1820 Missouri Compromise. Introduced by Stephen Douglas in an effort to bring Nebraska into the Union and pave the way for a northern transcontinental railroad.

Ostend Manifesto

Secret Franklin Pierce administration proposal to purchase or, that failing, to wrest militarily Cuba from Spain. Once leaked, it was quickly abandoned due to vehement opposition from the North.

Treaty of Wanghia

Signed by the United States and China, it assured the United States the same trading concessions granted to other powers, greatly expanding America's trade with the Chinese.

What were the terms of the Compromise of 1850? Reaction from the North and the South?

The Compromise of 1850 provided that California was admitted as a free state while both New Mexico and Utah had decision by popular sovereignty.

What was the Ostend Manifesto?

The Ostend Manifesto was secretly drafted, and stated a desire to seize Cuba. Money would be offered to Spain to buy off Cuba, and if refused, the US would simply take Cuba by force.

What happened to the Whigs in 1852?

The Whig party essentially dissolved due to the matter of slavery.

What was the key issue in the election of 1848?

The key issue of the election was, of course, the addressing of slavery. As both parties had for the longest time kept silent about the issue, answers were needed by the time of the election.

What type of people went to California?

The people who went to California were largely those who had nothing to lose; thus they were risking everything for the chance to strike gold in California.

Who was Harriet Tubman? What did she do?

Tubman was a significant figure in the operation of the underground railroad. She helped escaping slaves reach safety in Canada from their masters back in the US.

Opium War

War between Britain and China over trading rights, particularly Britain's desire to continue selling opium to Chinese traders. The resulting trade agreement prompted Americans to seek similar concessions from the Chinese.

What was Webster's "Seventh of March" speech?

Webster's Seventh of March speech was his attempt at convincing the president that the best course of decision for the country was to pass the Compromise of 1850, as country union was more important than the issue of slavery.

What happened in Nicaragua in the 1850s?

William Walker seized the area and created a slave territory. He was executed for his actions, which were a last attempt at extending slavery.

Clayton-Bulwer Treaty

sSigned by Great Britain and the United States, it provided that the two nations would jointly protect the neutrality of Central America and that neither power would seek to fortify or exclusively control any future isthmian waterway. Later revoked by the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty of 1901, which gave the United States control of the Panama Canal.