CHAPTER 15 , SECTION 2

Saving the Union

1850 California asked to join the Union as a free state. Most of California lay north of the Missouri

Compromise line

Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri supported California’s request

Senator Henry Foote of Mississippi helped block California’s admission Foote drew a pistol at Benton’s chest

No shot was fired

Seeking a Compromise

For a time both free and slave states entered the Union peacefully Michigan, Iowa, and Wisconsin entered as

free states Arkansas, Florida, and Texas entered as

slave statesCalifornia upset the balance in the Senate

Seeking a Compromise

South did not want to give the North a majority in the Senate Also feared that more free states would be

carved out the huge Mexican cession Some southerners talked about seceding

from the Union

Clay pleads for compromise

Clay had won the nickname “the great Compromiser” for working out the Missouri Compromise 73 year old Clay pleaded for the north and

South to reach an agreement If not the nation could break apart

Calhoun replies

Senator John C. Calhoun of South Carolina prepared the South’s reply to Clay Dying of tuberculosis, Calhoun had

another Senator read his speech

Calhoun replies

Insisted slavery be allowed in the Western territories

Demanded that fugitives, or un away slaves, be returned to their owners in the South

If the north does not agree to the South’s demands “let the states part in peace”

If you are unwilling to part in peace we shall know what to do

Webster calls for Unity

Daniel Webster of Massachusetts spoke next Clay’s rival for years Now supported Clay’s plea to save the

Union Webster feared the states could not

separate without a civil war Civil war: a war between people of the

same country

Webster calls for Unity

Webster viewed slavery as evil but disunion was worse

He would support the South’s demand that northerners return fugitive slaves

A Compromise at Last

1850 Calhoun and President Taylor diedMillard Filmore, the new president

supported Clay’s compromise

A Compromise at Last

Clay became too sick to continue giving speeches in favor of a compromise Stephen Douglas , a Senator from Illinois,

took his placeDouglas guided Clay’s plan, the

Compromise of 1850, through Congress

A Compromise at Last

Compromise of 1850 1.California was allowed to enter the Union as

a free state 2. The rest of the Mexican cession was divided

into the territories of New Mexico and Utah In each territory voters would decide the

slavery question according to popular sovereignty

3. Slave traded ended in Washington D.C. 4.A strict new fugitive slaw was passed

The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850

Required all citizens to help catch runaway slaves People who helped fugitives escape could

be fined $1,000 and jailed for six months

Fugitive Slave Law of 1850

Set up special courts to handle the cases of runaway slaves Judges received $10 for sending a

runaway to the South• $5 for setting someone free

Some judges sent African Americans to the South whether or not they were runaways

Thousands of free African Americans fled to Canada

Fugitive Slave Law of 1850

Enraged northerners Made them fell they were part of the

slave system Convinced more northerners slavery was

evil

An Antislavery Bestseller

Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin Written to show the evils of slavery and

injustice of the fugitive Slave Law Told the story of Uncle Tom, an enslaved

African American his owner Simon Legree treats his slaves brutally and in the end whips Uncle Tom until he dies

An Antislavery Bestseller

The book helped to change the way northerners felt about slavery They now saw it as a moral problem