Renewing the Sectional Struggle, 1848

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Chapter 18

• Renewing the Sectional Struggle, 18481854

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I. The Popular Sovereignty Panacea

• As the topic of slavery began to heat up, it is
  interesting that Democrats and Whigs both had
  strong supporters in the North and the South.
• The idea of Popular Sovereignty gained traction
  doctrine that stated that the sovereign people of
  a territory should themselves determine the
  status of slavery.

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II. Political Triumphs for General Taylor

• Whigs select Zachary Taylor to run for president.
• Clay shouldve but he had made too many enemies
  to get elected.
• Taylor had no experience in politics and hadnt
  even voted before but he was a war hero.
• Northern antislavery men didnt trust him
  (primarily because he owned a bunch of slaves.)
  So they began the Free Soil Party.

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• Free Soil Platform
• For the Wilmot Proviso (prohibited slavery in any
  territory acquired in the Mexican War)
• Against slavery in the territories
• Federal aid for internal improvements
• Free government homesteads for settlers
• During the campaign neither side was willing to
  bring up the issue of slavery, they just attacked
  each other.
• Ultimately, Taylors wartime popularity would pull
  him through.

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Map 18-1 p380
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III. Californy Gold

• 1849 California gold rush attached tens of
  thousands of people to CA almost overnight.
• Territorial government struggled to protect its
  citizens from the influx of lawless men entering
  the territory in search of gold.
• Robbery, claim jumping, and murder were common.
• Californians drafted a constitution (1849) that
  excluded slavery (so they wouldnt have to seek
  approval from southern politicians) and applied
  to Congress for admission.

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• Southern Politicians were upset by Californias
  attempt to bypass them and arose in violent
  opposition.

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IV. Sectional Balance and the Underground Railroad

• The North outnumbered the South a little in the
  House of Representatives, but had equality in the
  Senate.
• No one truly thought the institution of slavery
  was in danger for the states where it already
  existed.
• But the South was worried about the ever shifting
  political balance based state representation.

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• There were 15 slave states and 15 free states.
  The admission of California as a free state would
  throw everything off.
• Southerners were also angry over the loss of
  their runaway slaves, many of which were assisted
  by the Underground Railroad.
• Chain of stations (antislavery homes), through
  which passengers (runaway slaves) were directed
  by conductors (abolitionists such as Harriet
  Tubman.)
• 1850 southerners were demanding a new
  fugitive-slave law.
• The old one passed in 1793 proved inadequate.

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• Some estimations suggest that the South was
  losing around 1,000 runaways a year out of the 4
  million slaves.

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Map 18-2 p382
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V. Twilight of the Senatorial Giants

• In 1850 Southern fears were such that Congress
  was confronted with a catastrophe.
• Free-soil California was banging on the door.
• fire-eaters in the South were voicing threats
  of secession.
• In 1849, Southerners had announced to meet the
  following year to discuss withdrawing from the
  Union.
• Clay, Calhoun, and Webster appeared together for
  the last time on the public stage.

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• Senator Henry Clay, seventy-three years old,
  played a crucial role.
• He urged that the North and South both make
  concessions and that the North partially yield by
  enacting a more feasible fugitive-slave law.
• Senator John C. Calhoun, sixty-eight and dying of
  tuberculosis, championed the South in his last
  formal speech.
• His plea was to leave slavery alone, return
  runaway slaves, give the South its rights as a
  minority, and to restore the political balance.

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• Senator Daniel Webster, sixty-eight years old and
  suffering from liver complications, urged all
  reasonable concessions to the South, including a
  new fugitive-slave law with teeth.
• Websters rationale was that through climate,
  topography, and geography a plantation economy,
  in other words a slavery economy, could not
  profitably exist in the Mexican Cession
  territory.
• Note Webster was wrong within a hundred years
  California became a great cotton producer

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VI. Deadlock and Danger on Capitol Hill

• As the debates of 1850 raged on, the Young Guard
  in Congress, after listening to the Old Guard
  (Clay, Calhoun, and Webster,) focused more on
  purging and purifying than patching and
  preserving.
• William H. Seward, freshman senator of New York,
  opposed giving any concessions to the South.
• Seward argued that Christian legislators must
  obey Gods moral law, an even Higher Law than
  the Constitution

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• Sewards Higher Law must have struck a cord
  with President Taylor, who then vetoed any
  compromise passed by congress.
• He seemed to be ready to Jacksonize dissenters
  by leading an army against them.

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VII. Breaking the Congressional Logjam

• At the height of the controversy in 1850
  President Taylor Died suddenly (most likely from
  an intestinal disorder.)
• Millard Fillmore, who was much more bent toward
  arguments for conciliation, gladly signed the
  compromise measures that passed Congress.
• Trying to get buy-in for the Compromise of 1850
  was a struggle both in Congress as well as the
  country.

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Table 18-1 p384
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VIII. Balancing the Compromise Scales

• North wins out
• CA tipped scales in the Senate for the North.
• New Mexico and Utah were open to slavery through
  popular sovereignty, but the free soil group had
  the advantage.
• Texas received 10 million but proved to be only
  a modest sum.
• Slave trade only being outlawed in D.C. was a
  victory for the South, but it began the
  conversations for emancipation of the nations
  capital.

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• Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
• Fleeing slaves couldnt testify on their own
  behalf
• They were denied jury trial
• Federal commissioners who handled fugitive cases
  received 5 if a runaway slave was released and
  10 if not.
• Whites who aided the slaves received heavy fines
  and jail sentences.
• They were sometimes ordered to join the
  slave-catchers.

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Slavery After the Compromise of 1850
Map 18-3 p386
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Map 18-4 p388
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Map 18-5 p389
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Map 18-6 p392
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Map 18-7 p393