SS CHAPTER 15 Flashcards
Wilmot Proviso
a document stating “ neither slavery or involuntary servitude shall ever exists in any part of the territory”
-David Wilmot offered the wilmot proviso
-the northern controlled house passed the document but in the senate, the south had more power
-the wilmot proviso didn’t pass
Popular sovereignty
the idea that political power belongs to the people, who should decide on banning or allowing slavery.
senator Lewis Cass of Michigan encouraged the sovereignty
-people would decide on banning and allowing slavery
-some southerns wanted to outlaw slavery in all parts of the Mexican cession
Sectionalism
favoring the interests of one section or region over the interest of the entire country.
-the wilmot proviso spurred a debate that showed growing sectionalism
-sectionalism also meant as favoring the interests of one section
Free Soil Party
antislavery northerners formed a new party, which supported the Wilmot Proviso. They worried that slave labor would mean fewer jobs for white workers.
-in response of the presidential campaign of 1848 free soil parry was created
- worried that slave labor would mean fewer jobs for white workers
-Martian Van Buren was the candidate of the party
political party dedicated to stopping the expansion of slavery
Compromise of 1850
California was able to enter the Union as a free state. The rest of the Mexican Cession was divided into two territories- Utah and New Mexico- where the question of whether to allow slavery would be decided by popular sovereignty. It enacted that year and seemed to settle most disputes between free and slave states.
the rest of the Mexican cession was divided into two territories
-the question of whether to allow slavery would b decided by popular sovereignty
-Texas gave up land to give to New Mexico in exchange of financial ad from the federal government
-the compromise outlawed the slave trade in the District of Columbia and established a new fugitive slave law
Fugitive Slave Act
made it a crime to help runaway slaves and allowed officials to arrest those slaves in free areas. Slaveholders could use testimony from white witnesses, but enslaved African Americans accused of being fugitives could not testify. Nor could people who hid or helped a runaway slave - they faced six months in jail and a 1,000.
-slaveholders were permitted to take suspected fugitives to U.S. commissioners
-U.S. commissioners decided their fate
-slaveholders could use testimony from white witnesses but enslaved African American accused of being fugitives could not testify
people who helped run away slaves had to face six months in jail and a fine of $1,000
A law that made it a crime to help runaway slaves; allowed for the arrest of escaped slaves in areas where slavery was illegal and required their return to slaveholders
Anthony Burns
a fugitive slave from Virginia was arrested in Boston. Abolitionists used force while trying to rescue him from jail, killing a deputy marshal. Federal ship was ordered to return Burns to Virginia after his trial.
-from Virginia then arrested in Boston
-Abolitionists used force while trying to rescue him from jail, killing a deputy marshal
‘-a federal ship was ordered to return burns to Virginia
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
the antislavery novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe which spoke out against slavery.
author was Harriet Beecher Stowe
-spoke out powerfully against slavery
published in 1852
made a lot of people become abolitionists after reading it
-within a decade more then 2 million copies were sold in the United States
Harriet Beecher Stowe
moved to Ohio at 21, she met fugitive slaves and learned about the cruelties of slavery. Wrote the Uncle Tom’s Cabin book
-author on Uncle Tom’s Cabin’s
-daughter of Connecticut minister Lyman Beecher
-moved to Ohio when she was 21
-she decided to write the book because it would educate the northerners about the realities of slavery
Franklin Pierce
A politician from New Hampshire. Promised to honor the Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act. Southerners trusted Pierce on the issue of slavery. Pierce won the election of 1852 by a large margin. Democrat.
Stephen Douglas
had supported the idea of building a railroad to the pacific Ocean. favored a line running from Chicago. The first step towards building such a railroad would be organizing what remained of the Louisiana Purchase into a federal territory. The Missouri Compromise required that this land be free territory and eventually free states. People did not support but he asked senator to support his plan. They agreed to do so if the new territory west of Missouri was opened to slavery.
supported the idea of building a railroad to the Pacific Ocean, introduced the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Kansas Nebraska Act
a plan that would divide the remainder to the Louisiana Purchase into two territories- Kansas and Nebraska-and allow the people in each territory to decide on the question of slavery.
This Act set up Kansas and Nebraska as states. Each state would use popular sovereignty to decide what to do about slavery. People who were proslavery and antislavery moved to Kansas, but some antislavery settlers were against the Act. This began guerrilla warfare.
Pottawatomie Massacre
When Brown and his men killed five pro slavery men in Kansas to scare other slave supporters and to keep slavery supporters from moving into Kansas..
Charles Summer
Senator of Massachusetts who criticized pro-slavery people in Kansas and personally insulted Andrew Pickens Butler, a pro-slavery senator from South Carolina
Preston Brooks
A relative of Andrew Pickens Butler who responded strongly to insults to Butler. he used a walking cane to beat the man unconscious in the Senate chambers