Chapter 2- 1850 Compromise to the problem of Kansas Nebraska Flashcards
How was Taylor willing to react to Southern threats of secession?
Taylor was prepared to call southern bluff, and if need be, lead an army into the South to prevent secession.
Who led the conciliators in the situation of Southern secession?
Henry Clay.
What was the basis of the 1850 Compromise?
- California was to be admitted as a free state.
- Utah and New Mexico were to be organized as territories without any restrictions on slavery.
- Slave trading should end in Washington D.C.
- A more stringent Fugitive Slave Act should be passed to placate the South.
How did Clay present the 1850 compromise?
By a series of epic speeches where his proposals rolled into one ‘ominous’ bill and were debated in Congress.
What did Daniel Webster pronounce? How was this speech received?
He spoke for the 1850 compromise and he declared he was speaking ‘not as a northern man,… but as an American’ . Moderates praised his speech while abolitionists denounced him for betraying the cause of freedom.
What view did President Taylor have of the 1850 compromise?
He opposed the proposals as he believed California should be admitted as a free state immediately while New Mexico should also enter the Union as fast as possible. He thought southerners would just have to accept this.
What was the Nashville convention?
In June 1850, delegates from nine slave states met at Nashville. The fact that six slave states did not send their delegates was disconcerting to those who supported secession, as was the fact that the convention displayed little enthusiasm for secession. Had little impact.
What event happened in July 1850?
President Taylor died and Vice President, Millard Fillmore, now became president. Clay’s bill was also defeated, mainly because most northern Congressmen voted against it.
What views did Fillmore have? What impact did this have?
Although a northerner, he was sympathetic to the South and this was instantly apparent. He threw his weight behind the Compromise proposals.
What ingenious method did Douglas use to pass the 1850 compromise?
He stripped Clay’s bill down to its component parts and submitted each part as a separate bill. Southerners voted for the proposals they liked and northerners did likewise. By September 1850, all the bits of the Compromise had passed.
What were the key aspects of the 1850 compromise?
- Statehood for California
- Territorial status for Utah and New Mexico, allowing Popular Sovereignty
- Resolution of the Texas-New Mexico boundary dispute
- Abolition of the slave trade in Washington DC
- A new Fugitive Slave Act
What was Potter’s view of the 1850 compromise?
He thought it wasn’t a compromise but rather an armistice. Most northern Congressmen had after all voted against the pro- slavery measures while most southern Congressmen had voted against the anti-slavery measures. It did not settle the issue of slavery but simply avoided it.
Who benefited most from the 1850 compromise?
The North as the admittance of California into the union tilted the balance in the favour of the free states and the resolution on New Mexico and Utah were hollow victories for the South, the odds were that these areas would enter as free states to the Union one day. Only the Fugitive Slave Act was the North’s major concession.
How was the 1850 compromise greeted throughout America?
Most Americans seemed prepared to accept the Compromise. Southern secessionists’ hopes foundered. In southern state elections, in 1851-2, Unionist candidates defeated secessionists. The South had decided against secession for now.
What warning signs for the future were there?
Many southerners had come to accept Calhoun’s doctrine that secession was a valid constitutional remedy, applicable in appropriate circumstances. The hope was that those circumstances would not arise.
