1950 Compromise Flashcards
Previous context:
Polk elected president in 1944
- Promoted westward expansion
- Annex Texas in 1845
- Mexican-American War
- Treaty of Fort Guadalupe Hidalgo
- Wilmot Proviso + Calhoun Doctrine
Who was the ‘great compromiser’ and why?
Henry Clay:
- Created Missouri Compromise
- Created compromise for Nullification Crisis
Key individuals in 1950 Compromise?
- Henry Clay
- Daniel Webster
- Stephen Douglas
- John Calhoun
- Zachery Taylor
Henry Clay’s role in 1950 Compromise?
- Constructed the compromise
- Highly controversial as he owned slaves
- Representative of Kentucky (North)
Daniel Webster’s role in the 1950 Compromise?
- From Massachusetts (North)
- Spoke in favour of Compromise and Fugitive Slave Law
Stephen Douglas role in 1950 Compromise?
Broke down Clays omnibus bill into steps which could be passed.
Stephen Calhoun’s role in 1950 Compromise?
- Southerner
- Ill during the debates.
Zachery Taylor role in 1950?
- President died 1950
- Not a supporter of bill so important that he died
- Did not believe that New Mexico and California should be allowed as free states.
Features of the 1950 Compromise?
- California admitted as free state
- Stricter Fugitive Slave Laws than in 1793
- Slave Trade Abolished in Washington D.C
- Utah and New Mexico admitted with no mention of slavery (Popular sovereignty)
- Texas surrender land to New Mexico and Congress take up $10 million dept.
Impact of the amendments to Fugitive Slave LAw?
- Harriet Beecher-Stowe wrote ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’
- Trouble on the streets of Boston following case of Anthony Burns (captured and returned to South)
Proof that the Compromise divided north and south as more Northerners became abolitionists?
“We went to bed one night old-fashioned, conservative, Compromise Union Whigs and waked up stark mad Abolitionists.” Philanthropist Lawrence
Features of Boston Slave Riot?
- 1854
- 500 volunteers surrounded the courthouse where Anthony was being held.
- 50,000 people lined the streets yelling ‘shame’ to the courthouse as Anthony walked to the ship that would take him to Virginia.
Quote from ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’?
Fine if refused to form posse in Fugitive Slave Act:
$1,000
Which two states did Douglas suggest should get popular sovereginty?
Utah + New Mexico
Why were Utah and New Mexico unlikely to accept slavery?
climate and geography unsuitable for cotton plantations.
Quote by Clay in February: states that nature will prevent slavery more than a thousand Wilmot Provisos?
‘I have never risen to address any assemblage so oppressed, so appalled, and so anxious.’
Nashville convention:
June 1950: Delegates of 9 slave states met at Nashville. 6 slave states did not send delegates.
Who became president after Taylor’s death in July?
Millard Fillmore (Northerner but sympathetic to South)
Supported Clay’s bill (unlike Taylor)
Who voted against Clay’s bill?
Northern congressmen leading to its faliure
Historian David Potter’s opinions on the compromise?
Thought it was more of an armistice.
How did President Fillmore describe the compromise in December 1851?
‘final and irrevocable’
Douglas’ resolution after the Compromise was passed?
‘never to make another speech on the slavery question’
How many Northern states passed liberty laws in 1850s preventing state jails from being used to imprison fugitives?
9
How many copies of Uncle Tom’s Cabin were sold in 1852?
300,000
How many copies of Uncle Tom’s cabin sold in 10 years?
2 million
David Potter’s views on ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’?
Northern attitudes to slavery were ‘never quite the same after Uncle Tom’s Cabin’
