Ch 18
(debates of 1850) Senator William H. Seward, as a representative of the northerners Young Guard, argued that
Christian legislators must obey God's moral law
Presidential candidates in the 1848 election:
Martin Van Buren, Lewis Cass, and Zachary Taylor
the man who opened Japan to the US
Matthew Perry
US' scheme to gain control of Cuba was stopped when
N free soilers fiercely protested the effort
For a short time in the 1850s, an American seized control of
Nicaragua
(Seventh of March speech) Webster called for
a new, more stringent fugitive-slave law
Free Soldiers argued that slavery would
cause more costly wage labor to wither away
Southern delegates met at a convention in Nashville in the summer of 1850 to
condemn the compromises being worked out in Congress
most American leaders believed that the only way to keep the new Pacific Coast territories from breaking away from US control was to
construct a transcontinental railroad
Southerners insisted that the first transcontinental railroad should run through the Southwest because
construction would be less difficult there and the railroad would pass through already organized territory of the US
(debate of 1850) William H. Seward argued that there was a "higher law" than the Constitution that compelled him to
demand the exclusion of slavery from the territories
In light of future evidence, it seems apparent that in the Compromise of 1850 the South made a tactical blunder by
demanding a strong fugitive-slave law
Fugitive Slave Law included:
denial of a jury trial to runaway slaves; denial of fleeing slaves' right to testify on their own behalf; the penalty of imprisonment for northerners who helped slaves to escape; and a higher payment if officials determined blacks to be runaways
Free Soilers condemned slavery because it
destroyed the chances of free white workers to rise to self-employment
president Zachary Taylor unknowingly helped the cause of compromise in 1850 when he
died suddenly and Millard Fillmore became president
event that brought turmoil to the administration of Zachary Taylor
discovery of gold in CA
The new Free Soil party in 1848 found major support from those who
favored high tariffs, had wanted all of Oregon up to the 54 40' line, condemned slavery as immoral, wanted to keep slavery out of the territories and believed that slavery harmed white labor
the public liked popular sovereignty because it
fit in with the democratic tradition of self determination
Harriet Tubman gained fame by
helping slaves to escape to Canada
of those people going to CA during the gold rush, a distressingly high proportion were
lawless men
election of 1852 was significance
marked the end of the Whig party
most alarming aspect of the Compromise of 1850 to northerners was the decision
new Fugitive Slave Law
key issue for the major parties in the 1848 presidential election
personalities
(Compromise of 1850) Congress determined that slavery in the New Mexico and Utah territories decided by
popular sovereignty
Stephen Douglas proposed that the question of slavery in the Kansas-Nebraska Territory be decided by
popular sovereignty
Wilmot Proviso, if adopted, would have
prohibited slavery in any territory acquired in the Mexican War
In order to maintain the two great political parties as vital bonds of national unity, early 19th century politicians avoided
public discussion of slavery
Young Guard from the North were most interested in
purging and purifying the Union
by 1850, the South was
relatively well off, politically and economically
in the 1848 presidential election, the Democratic and Whig parties
remained silent on the issue of slavery
US victory in the Mexican War resulted in
renewed controversy over the issue of extending slavery into the territories, a possible split in the Whig and Democrat parties over slavery, the cession by Mexico of an enormous amount of land to the US, and a rush of settlers to new American territory in CA
Douglas's plans for deciding the slavery question in the Kansas-Nebraska scheme required
repeal of the Missouri Compromise
(1850s) slaves gained their freedom most frequently by
self-purchase
Webster's famed Seventh of March speech in 1850 result
shift toward compromise in the North
fatal split in the Whig party in 1852
slavery
debate over slavery in the Mexican Cession threatened to
split national politics along North-South lines
(1848) the Free Soil party platform advocated all of the following:
support of the Wilmot Proviso; free government homesteads for settlers; opposition to slavery in the territories; and an end to slavery in the District of Columbia
Many N states passed "personal liberty laws" in response to
the Compromise of 1850's provision regarding runaway slaves
most brazen scheme for territorial expansion in the 1850s was expressed in
the Ostend Manifesto
(1850) the South was deeply worried because
the Underground Railroad was carrying away hundreds of slaves each year and CA sought admission as a free state
Calhoun's plan to protect the South and slavery involved
the election of two presidents, one from the North and one from the South
According to the principle of "popular sovereignty"
the question of slavery in the territories would be determined by the vote of the people in any given territory
S route for the transcontinental railroad seemed the best because
the railroad would be easier to build in this area
One of Stephen Douglas's mistakes in proposing Kansas-Nebraska Act
underestimating the depth of N opposition to the spread of slavery
For his position in his Seventh of March speech, Webster was
viciously condemned by abolitionists
prime objective of Manifest Destiny(1850s)
Cuba