Sectional PoliticsChapter 4

The Rise of theSlavery Issue

Should slavery be allowed in the Mexican Cession? David Wilmot (Penn.) had already suggested that

slavery be outlawed in the Mexican cession. The Wilmot Proviso

John C. Calhoun (S.C.) wanted to allow slavery. A more moderate proposal by Pres. Polk was to extend

the Missouri Compromise Others such as Lewis Cass (Mich.) and Stephen

Douglass (ILL.) wanted popular sovereignty Allow the people of each territory rather than

Congress decide the status of slavery.

Presidential election of 1848

Both parties tried to avoid the issue of slavery

Democrats nominate Lewis Cass (and deny power of Congress to interfere with slavery) – popular sovereignty

Whigs choose Zachary Taylor, a slaveholder from Louisiana who owned more than 100 slaves (and adopt no platform at all)

Development of the Free Soil Party Rebellious northern Democrats Antislavery Whigs (“Conscience” vs. “Cotton” Whigs) Members of the antislavery Liberty party Nominate Martin Van Buren Slogan: “free soil, free speech, free labor, free men”

Election goes to Taylor

California Statehood

By 1849 California had enough residents to be admitted as a state (Gold Rush). The balance of power between the North and the

South stood at 15 each. Taylor calls for admission of California as

a free state and thought slavery should be banned in all of the Mexican cession. He was convinced that slavery would never flourish in the West. Taylor’s suggestion touched off the most serious

sectional crisis the Union had yet confronted.

The Great Debate

Henry Clay decided that a grand compromise was needed to end all disputes between the North and the South and to save the Union. Already, Mississippi had summoned a southern convention

to meet in Nashville to discuss the crisis and extremists were pushing for secession.

The Senate debated the compromise for six months. Finally Stephen Douglass took over and passed each part of the compromise individually. President Taylor’s death in July 1850 helped push forward the compromise.

The Compromise of 1850

California admitted as free state Rest of Mex. Cession divided into

two territories: New Mexico & Utah under popular sovereignty

The slave trade, not slavery itself, would be abolished in the District of Columbia

A new, more rigorous Fugitive Slave Law

The Fugitive Slave Act

Enabled southerners to reclaim runaway slaves in the North

Denied an accused runaway a trial by jury and it required all citizens assist federal marshals in its enforcement

Northern reaction to the act – found the fugitive slave act hard to swallow

Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852)

By Harriet Beecher Stowe A tremendous commercial

success, it was perhaps the most effective piece of antislavery propaganda.

Presented a powerful moral indictment of the law and of slavery as an institution.

The Election of 1852

Both the Whigs and the Democrats endorsed the Compromise

Democrats turn to Franklin Pierce who defeated Whig candidate Winfield Scott

Even more significantly, the antislavery Free Soil Party did not receive many votes.

With the slavery issue seemingly losing political force, it appeared that the Union had weathered the storm unleashed by the Wilmot Proviso.

Sectional Changesin American Society

The Growth of a Railroad Economy In the 1850s, railroad construction

took cotton’s place as the driving force behind the economy.

Reorientation of western trade Urbanization in the North reached

over 50% for first time in 1860 Rising Industrialization in the North

Influx of immigrants in the 1840s and 1850s threatened the sectional balance of power.

Sectional Changes in American Society

Southern economic dependence

The Gadsden Purchase, 1853

Ideas for a transcontinental railroad President Pierce wanted to build

a southern route for a railroad With the Gadsden

Purchase, the U.S. gained 45,000 square miles of Mexican desert, which contained the most practical southern route for a transcontinental railroad.

The Railroad Affects Politics

Sen. Stephen Douglas (Ill.) wanted to build a transcontinental railroad from Chicago.

This could not be done until the rest of the Louisiana Purchase was organized.

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

Repealed the Missouri Compromise

Created two territories based on popular sovereignty,

Most northern opponents of the bill focused on the expansion of slavery and the Slave Power rather than the moral evil of slavery.

Once President Pierce endorsed the bill, it passed and the Missouri Compromise was repealed

The Political Realignment of the 1850s

Collapse of the Second American Party System

The fight over the bill divided the political parties along sectional lines and effectively destroyed the Whig party and the Republican Party emerged to take its place, uniting around the ideal of free labor.

The Republican Party No base in the South. Intended to elect a president by sweeping the free

states, which now controlled a majority of the electoral votes.

Election of 1856 Democrat James Buchanan (Penn.) beats Republican

John C. Freemont (Calif.) in a close election. Republicans began preparing for 1860.

The Worsening Crisis

Bleeding Kansas Violence broke out between two rival governments: one

free & one slaveBleeding Sumner

The violence spread when Congressman Preston Brooks (S.C.) attacked Sen. Charles Sumner (Mass.) with his cane.

The Dred Scott Decision Chief Justice Taney says that African-Americans could

not be citizens and that Congress could not ban slavery. Encouraged political extremism.

The WorseningCrisis

The Panic of 1857 Economic issues increase sectional tensions

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1858)

Douglas and Lincoln on the slavery issue. Lincoln lost the senatorial contest in Illinois. Lincoln’s performance marked him as a

possible presidential contender for 1860.

John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry (1859)

An abolitionist seized the unguarded federal armory at Harper’s Ferry in Virginia in hopes of starting a slave insurrection. He was captured and

executed.

Another blow weakening the forces of compromise and moderation.

A Sectional Election (1860)

Actually two contests: North: Abraham Lincoln (Rep.) vs. Stephan Douglass (N. Dem.) South: John Breckinridge (S. Dem.) vs. John Bell (Constitutional Union)

Lincoln wins less than 40% of popular vote with virtually no support in the South.

For the first time, the nation had elected a president who headed a completely sectional party and who was committed to stopping the expansion of slavery.

The Road to War

Secession seemed the only alternative left to protect southern equality and liberty.

South Carolina seceded on December 20, 1860.

The rest of the Deep South followed and formed the Confederate States of America on February 7, 1861.

The Upper South and border states declined to secede, hoping that once again Congress could patch together a settlement. Crittenden Compromise fails