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.
What features of the Fugitive Slave Act were an anathema to abolitionists and moderates?
- It authorised Federal marshals to raise posses to pursue fugitives on northern soil. Those who refused to join risked a 1000 dollar fine.
- The law targeted not only recent runaways but also those who had fled the South decades earlier.
How did Northerners react to the Fugitive Slave act?
- In 1854, a Boston mob broke into a courthouse and killed a guard in an abortive effort to rescue the fugitive slave, Anthony Burns. Troops had to escort Burns to Boston harbour where a ship carried him back to slavery.
- Vigilance committees sprang up in many northern communities to help endangered former slaves escape to Canada.
- Nine northern states, in the 1850s, passed personal liberty laws which made it difficult to enforce Federal law. However in most Northern states the Fugitive Slave Law was enforced without trouble.
What is Uncle Tom’s Cabin and what impact did it have?
A story published in 1851 by Harriet Beecher Stowe, which presented an attack on slavery. Was also turned into songs and plays. The book aroused wide sympathy for slaves and probably pushed some northerners toward a more aggressively anti-slavery stance.
Why were the Democrats confident approaching the 1852 Presidential election? What platform did they campaign on?
Many Irish and German immigrants were now entitled to vote and were expected to vote Democrat. They campaigned on a platform supporting the 1850 Compromise and Popular Sovereignty.
Who did the Whigs select as their candidate? What platform did they stand on?
General Winfield Scott. They could not agree on a platform and thus stood for virtually nothing.
Why was President Pierce in a strong position in 1853?
The Democrats had large majorities in both houses of Congress and the economy continued to bloom. The Whig party was also far from a challenge as it was extremely divided.
What hopes did Southerners have in 1853?
The USA would expand into central America and/or Cuba, thus allowing the opportunity of slavery to expand.
What was the Gadsden purchase? Why did Southerners support it?
In 1853, Pierce gave James Gadsden the authority to negotiate the purchase of 2500000 square miles of Mexican territory. Gadsden eventually agreed to purchase 540000 square miles. Southerners supported the acquisition of this territory because it would assist the building of a southern railway to the Pacific. Gained Senate approval only after northern amendment slashed 9000 square miles from the proposed purchase.
What efforts did the USA take to acquire Cuba? How did this escapade finish?
In 1851, an American sponsored filibuster expedition to try to overthrow the Spanish-Cuban government had failed miserably. In 1853-4, Mississippi Senator, John Quittman, planned an even greater expedition. Several thousand American volunteers were recruited and contact was made with Cuban rebels. In July 1853, Pierce met Quittman and officially encouraged him to go ahead with his plans. Pierce’s main problem was northern opinion who viewed filibustering as another example of southern efforts to expand slavery. Alarmed by northern reaction, Pierce forced Quittman to scuttle his expedition.
