Chapter 15 Flashcards
What was the Wilmot Proviso?
Ignited the festering debate over the extension of slavery. Basically said that slavery should be outlawed in the new territory
In the 1850s the US shared a
Passion for politics and political issues
Polk dismissed the Proviso as
Mischievous and foolish
Calhoun declared that getting rid of slavery would
Violate the Fifth Amendment, which forbids Congress to derive any person of liberty, life, and property
Popular sovereignty would take the
Contentious issue of allowing slavery in new territories out of the national arena and put it in the hands of those affected
Territorial status for Oregon was delayed because
Its provisional government had excluded slavery
President Polk signed the bill on the principle that Oregon was
North of 36 30
The Democratic Party simply denied
The power of congress to interfere with slavery in the states and criticized anti-slavery activists to bring the question before Congress
Free soil in the new territories, rather than abolition ing in the slave states for those who opposed slavery, cuz
The Northwest Ordinance snd Missouri Compromise supported honored precedents for doing so
The free soil party was formed by
Rebellious Northern Democrats, anti-slavery Whigs, and members of the Liberty Party
Free Soil elected
Martin Van Buren
The infusion of California gold into the US economy helped
Finance the Union military effort in the Civil War
The gold rush also shifted the nation’s center of gravity
Westward, spurred the construction of railroads and telegraph lines, and excited dreams of a an empire based in the Pacific
In California, few were
Interested in establishing a permanent settlement. Most were unmarried men
Those women who lived in the camps,
Demand a premium for their work
Decided to use California’s statehood request as a lever
To end the stalemate in Congress brought by the slavery issue
What was Clay’s Compromise in 1850?
Admit Cali as a free state, organize the territories of New Mexico and Utah for popular sovereignty, deny Texas of their extreme claim to New Mexico, to compensate Texas by having a federal government pay the pre-annexation Texas debts, retain slavery in DOC, abolish slave trade there, adopt a more effective fugitive slave law, deny congressional authority to interfere with a state slave trade
The Fugitive Slave Act as part of the Compromise of 1850
Strengthened the hand of slave catchers; it offered a strong temptation to kidnap free blacks in northern free states
The slaves could not get a
Jury trial
Uncle Tom’s Cabin written because of the
Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
The novel UTC depicts a combination
Of unlikely saints and sinners, stereotypes, fugitive slaves, and melodramatic escapedes, and made the reality of the story brutal
At the time of publication of UTC,
The country was enjoying a surge of prosperity fueled by California gold
In the election of 1852 the Democrats chose
Franklin Pierce, the whigs Millard Fillmore, Northern Whigs chose Winfield Scott, and John Hale for the free soilers
Franklin Pierce
Fought in the Mexican War,, promoted Western expansion, but unable to unite the warring factions of his party
By the Gadsen Purchase of 1853,
The US paid Mexico 10 million for land offering a likely route for a transcontinental railroad
Jefferson Davis favored the
Gadsen Purchase for the railroad, and go through the territories granted to the Indians
Douglas, favored a
That Chicago should be the transcontinental railroad’s eastern terminus
Stephen Douglas introduced the Kansas-Nebraska Acr,
That allowed them to have popular sovereignty
Douglas’s motive for this act include
Railroads and popular sovereignty would quiet the slavery issue, and open the Great Plains to development
In abandoning the Missouri Compromise and allowing people to chose slavery, Douglas
Renewed sectional tensions and forced moderate political leaders to align with the extremes
In the end the K-N act would
Destroy the Whig party, fragment the Democratic party, and spark a territorial civil war in Kansas
The tragic flaw in Douglas’s reasoning was his failure to appreciate the
Trowing intensity of anti-slavery sentiment spreading across the country
Sam Houston denounced the K-N act because
It denounced the Missouri Compromise, and confirmation of territory dedicated to the Indians
Many in the North reasoned that if the Missouri Compromise was not
A sacred pledge, then neither was the Fugitive Slave Act
Anthony Burns
Was caught. He was put on trial and was marched to Virginia. It was heavily protested against and was the most dramatic demonstration against the act
Republican party was formed from
Northern Whigs and Free Soilers
Southern Whigs formed the
Know Nothing Party
In Kansas, the law said nothing about the timing of any decision,
Which gave a sense of urgency to take control of the territory
The governor denounced the pro-slavery vote as a fraud, but
Didn’t do anything to avoid getting killed
The territorial legislature expelled
Its few anti slavery members, adopted a drastic slave code, and made it a capital offense to aid a fugitive slave and a felony to question the legality of slavery
A state government in Topeka
Drafted a state constitution excluding both slavery and feee blacks from Kansas, and applied for admission. There were now two governments in Kansas
What was the Pottawatomie Massacre?
It was when John Brown and bis anti-slavery followers hacked five me to death. It set off a guerrilla in the Kansas Territory that lasted through fall
Missouri ruffians then assualted
Osawatomie Kansas where they looted and shot Fredrick Brown
A pro slavery mob did what on Lawrence?
Destroyed newspaper presses, set fire to the governor’s house, stole property, and damaged the Free-State Hotel
Sumner insulted slave owners
Got caned by Preston Brooks
The beating of the Sumner lead many northerners
To go to the Republican Party
The Republicans
Were against slavery, favored a funding of a transcontinental railroad, and more government financed internal improvements
Pierce struggled with
Alcoholism and self doubt
In 1860, the Democrats chose
James Buchanan a former senator and secretary of state
The Democratic Platform of 1860 did what?
Endorsed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, called for vigorous enforcement of the fugitive slave act, and Congress should not endorse in slavery
The Democratic party reached out to the
Irish and German voters by condemning nativism and endorsing religious liberty
His long quest for presidency had been built on
His commitment on states rights and his aggressive promotion of territorial expansion
Buchanan believed that
Saving the Union depended upon concessions to the South
What were the three major events in Buchanan’s presidency!
Dred Scott, new troubles in Kansas, and a financial panic that lead the US into a financial panic
What happened in the Dred Scott case?
When his owner died, Dred Scott tried to buy his freedom. Jury decided in his favor. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney ruled that Scott lacked citizenship, as did all of his foreign slaves. Taney argued that the Missouri Compromise had deprived citizens of property by prohibiting slavery in selected states, an action not warranted by the Constitution
What Dred Scott case
First time that a law (Missouri Compromise) was declared unconstitutional, challenged popular sovergenity. If congress itself could not exclude slavery from a territory, then presumably neither could a territoral government created by an act of Congress
Republicans protested Dred Scott because it
Nullified their anti slavery program
Congress had an obligation to protect the property of slaveholders, making a federal slave code
The next step in the militant effort to end slavery
President Buchanan
Endorsed the pro slavery Lecompton convention
Stephen Douglas favored with the Republicans because
The people of Kansas were denied to vote on the issue
Even though the convention was highly against the Lecompton Constitution
It was passed because of Buchanan’s support.
However, Democrats put through a supervised popular vote for Kansas,
Where anti slavery won
The panic of 1857 happened because
Of a reduction in foreign demand for American grain, overly aggressive railroad construction, a surge in manufacturing production that outran the growth of market demand, and the confusion by the state banknote system. The Failure of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company precipitated the panic and lead to a financial slump
Northern businessmen tended to blame the depression on the
Democratic Tariff of 1857, which had cut rates on imports
The result was that
Cotton reinforced its importance and that slave based agriculture was far superior in the North
What was the debate about?
Popular sovergnity vs against further expansion of slavery
How did Douglas answer Lincoln’s question on how he could reconcile popular sovereignty with the Dred Scott decision, when citizens had the right to carry citizens from every territory?
Freeport Doctrine- whatever the Supreme Court said about slavery, it could not exist anywhere unless supported by local police regulations
Lincoln insisted that the
Union could not exist wit it being half slave and half free
John Potter
Scalped a Mississippi Congressman
John Brown had a furtive existence,
Acquiring money and weapons from prominent New England sympathizers
John Brown claimed he was
Carrying out a divine mission on a behalf of a vengeful God
What Was Brown’s plan at Harper’s Ferry?
Ludicrous plan was to seize teh arsenal then arm thousands of slaves in the area. Would set up a black stronghold in the mountains of western Virginia, thus providing a nucleus of support to inspire soave insurrections across the South
What Brown and his soldiers did?
His soldiers of a vengeful God actually did was take the town by surprise, cut the telegraph lines, and take control of the railroad station, musket factory, rifle world and arsenal
Few actually called To Brown’s call to arms, and
Were surrounded. Watson, his son, raised the white, hoping to trade hostages for his freedom, but angry crowd shot them both. Confused shooting ensued and were put down
Brown achieved two things
Became a martyr of the anti slavery cause, and set off a panic of the slaveholding South
John Brown’s raid led the rebellion to
War
Another effect of John Brown’s raid was that
South was afraid of slave revolt and pro slavery southerners were encouraged to equate the militant abolitionism of John Brown with the Republican partu
The Democrats nominated
Northern- Douglas, Southern- Breckinridge
William Seward was not chosen because
He was tagged as an extremist for his earlier statements about an irrepressible conflict over slaveryv
The Republican Party platform debounced
The Dred Scott decision and John Brown’s raid. It also promised the right of each state to order and control its own domestic institutions
