Chapter 18 Flashcards
General Lewis Cass
The father of popular sovereignty
Democratic candidate running against Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor
Whig nominee for president 1848
Hero of Buena Vista
Whig Party in 1848
Wins the election because of Taylor’s popularity
Does not form any strong opinions on slavery
Free soil party
Organized in 1848, when they did not like the position of Taylor or Cass on slavery
It appealed to many different groups
Industrialists for a higher protective tariff, farmers who wanted free land, and “conscience whigs” against Slavery
Why was the Free Soil Party created?
Destroying the chances of free white workers to rise up from being wage-earning dependents to self-employers
1848 presidential candidates
Whigs: Taylor
Democrats: Cass
Free soil party: Van Buren
The California problem
Since there were so many people rushing into California for the gold, it had to be decided on whether-or-not California would come into the Union as a free state
Texas in 1850
The federal government was proposing to detach Mexico
Texas was threatening to seize Santa Fe and take what is rightfully theirs
This makes the South worried because the South wants slavery in Texas
Were a lot of slaves escaping
No. More slaves probably bought their own freedom than escaped
The Fugitive Slave Act was more of a principle problem than an actual problem
1850 Congress
Brought together the Old Guard for the last time before they died off
Clay: wants a compromise
Calhoun: wants Southern rights
Webster: give the south a new slave law, keep slavery out of the new territories
Webster’s Seventh of March Speech
Argued for the South to get a new fugitive slave law
Keep slavery out of the territories
Helped move towards the Compromise of 1850
Abolitionists do not like because he is giving the South their slave law
Old Guards vs. Young Guard
The old want to preserve the Union they fought to create
The young do not care about preserving the Union as much
William H. Seward
Congress 1850
Spokesman for many young northern radicals
He opposed concession to the South
Who takes over when Zachary Taylor dies?
Millard Fillmore
Signed the Compromise of 1850
Second Era of Good Feelings
After the Compromise of 1850, a calm before the storm settled upon the nation
Who got the better deal in the Compromise of 1850?
The North
California is a free state
New Mexico and Utah are based on popular soverignity
Slave trade stopped in Washington DC
Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
“The bloodhound bill”
Slaves could not testify and were denied a jury trial
Citizens had to help aid slave catchers
Importance of the Fugitive Slave Law
For the first time, the cruelness of slavery was apparent in the North
It ignited the abolitionist cause
Why was it good that the war did not start in the 1850s?
It gave the North time to accumulate the material and moral strength that was needed to win
Election of 1852 candidates
Democrats: Franklin Pierce
Whigs: Winfield Scott
How did the democrats win the 1852 election?
The Whigs were split
Anti-slavery whigs in the North did not like that Scott supported the Fugitive Slave Law
What is the importance of the 1852 election?
Marked the end of the Whig Party
Sectional vs. national political parties
In order to preserve the Union, want parties that have voters in the North and the South
Sectional parties (like the Republicans) led to splits within the Union
United States and New Granada (Columbia) Treaty of 1848
Guaranteed the America right of transit across the isthmus in return to maintain neutral and keep free transit
William Walker and Nicagrua
Wanted to expand slavery even more to the South
Self promotes himself the president of Nicaragua
he was shot to death
Filibustering expeditions
1850-51
Two expeditions went to Cuba
The Southerners that went to Cuba to instal a slavocracy were killed
Black Warrior
an American steamer that Spanish officials in Cuba shot down
Instead of going to war, Pierce negotiated the Ostend Manifesto
Ostend Manifesto
Offers 120 million for Cuba
If Spain refuses, then the military will move in
The North is outraged at this attempt for another slave state, so Pierce quickly drops the manifesto
Caleb Cushing
Got the Chinese to sign the Treaty of Wanghia
This was the first treaty between the United States and China
Opened the door for American-Chinese trade and American missionaries to pour into China
Commodore Matthew C. Perry
Opened up Japan
Signed the Treaty of Kanagawa, which opened Japan up to trade
Gadsden Purchase
Paid for a tract of desert land to make a Southern based Pacific Railroad
Of course the North does not like this
What does the railroad race lead to?
Since the South was arguing that they were more organized and therefore better suited for a railroad, the North proposed that Nebraska should become an organized territory
Douglas’s Kansas-Nebraska scheme
Since he wanted to see Nebraska organized to make a train near Chicago, he proposed this plan
Nebraska will be cut in half (Kansas-Nebraska) and decided on popular soverignity whether or not to have slavery
Violates the Missouri Compromise. South likes it because they can get one more slave state. North does not like it
Where did the Republican party start?
Wisconsin and Michigan
Hodge-podge party that opposed the expansion of slavery
