Chapter 16 Toward Civil War (1840-1861)

Lesson 1A The Search for Compromise

Missouri

• 1819- Missouri applied for statehood
• Slavery was legal in Missouri
• This sparked an angry debate in Congress
• There were 22 states in the Union
• 11 slave states/ 11 free states
• Each state got two votes (Senate)
• Adding another state would tip the balance between slave states and free states

North and South

• The North and South had different economies and were competing for new land in the West
• At the same time, many Northerners wanted to restrict or ban slavery
• Southerners opposed these antislavery efforts (even those that disliked slavery)
• Southerners resented the interference by outsiders in Southerners’ affairs
• This grew into sectionalism between the North and South

What to do with Missouri

• Senate suggested allowing Missouri join as a slave state and Maine join as a free state
• The Senate wanted to settle the issue of slavery in the territories for good
• Senate proposed banning slavery in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase north of 36°30' N latitude
• Speaker of the House Henry Clay guided the bill through the House of Representatives (passed by a close vote)
• Maine was the 23^rd state and Missouri was 24^th
• The Missouri Compromise preserved the balance between slave and free states
• This was a temporary solution in the debate over slavery

Lesson 1A

1. A
2. B
3. C
4. D

Who drafted the Missouri Compromise?

A. Henry Clay

B. James Monroe

C. James Polk

D. Thomas Jefferson

Slavery

• The debate over slavery erupted again in the 1840s
• Texas was added and slavery was already legal there
• Texas Annexation was the main issue in the presidential election of 1844
• Texas became a state in 1845
• Shortly after the Mexican War began, Representative David Wilmot from Pennsylvania introduced a proposal
• The Wilmot Proviso would ban slavery in any lands the US would get from Mexico

Lesson 1A

1. A
2. B
3. C
4. D

Which of the following was a proposal to ban slavery in any lands acquired from Mexico?

A. The Compromise of 1850

B. The Wilmot Proviso

C. The Missouri Compromise

D. The Freeport Doctrine

Southerners’ Response

• Southerners’ protested the Wilmot Proviso
• Southerners’ felt this endangered slavery everywhere – how?
• They wanted New Mexico and California open to slavery
• John C. Calhoun (SC) countered with another proposal
• It said that neither Congress nor any territory had the authority to ban slavery from a territory or regulate it
• Neither proposal passed, but caused bitter debate
• By the next election, the US gained New Mexico and California, but took no action on slavery

Election of 1848

• 1848- The Whigs selected Zachary Taylor as their candidate
• Taylor was a Southerner and a hero of the Mexican War
• The Democrats chose Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan
• Both candidates ignored the issue of slavery
• The failure to take a stand angered voters

Election of 1848 Continued

• Many opponents of slavery left their parties and formed the Free-Soil Party
• “Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, and Free Men”
• The Free-Soil Party chose former president Van Buren as their candidate
• Taylor won, but the Free-Soil Party gained several seats in Congress

Issues in the US

• California applied for statehood in 1849 (After the Gold Rush)
• Meanwhile, antislavery forces wanted to ban slavery in Washington, D.C. (in the South!)
• Southerners also wanted a national fugitive slave law that required states to return fugitive enslaved people
• The key issue was the balance of power in the Senate (30 states 15/15)
• Southerners talked about seceding from the Union

Compromising

• 1850- Senator Henry Clay proposed that California enter as a free state
• The rest of the new territories would have no limits on slavery
• The slave trade (Not slavery itself) would be banned in Washington D.C.
• Clay also pushed for a stronger fugitive slave law
• Senator John C. Calhoun opposed the plan – why?
• Calhoun felt that the Union could be saved only by protecting slavery
• Senator Webster supported the plan
• Webster said that slavery had little chance in the new territories because the land was not suited for plantations

The Compromise of 1850

• President Taylor was an opponent of Clay’s plan
• But Taylor died unexpectedly and Millard Fillmore took over as president
• Fillmore favored the compromise
• To end the crisis, Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas divided Clay’s plan into parts
• Each part would be voted on separately
• Fillmore had several Whigs abstain on parts they opposed
• The 5 parts passed and became known as the Compromise of 1850

The Parts of the Compromise of 1850

1. California would be admitted as a free state.
2. The New Mexico territory would have no restrictions on slavery.
3. The New Mexico-Texas border dispute would be settled in favor of New Mexico.
4. The slave trade (but not slavery itself) would be abolished in D.C.
5. Stronger fugitive state law. �

Chapter 16 Lesson 1A Quiz

By admitting a free state and Missouri, a slaveholding state, to the Union at the same time, the Senate could remain balanced.

1. True
2. False

The Wilmot Proviso allowed California to enter the Union as a free state.

1. True
2. False

John C. Calhoun countered David Wilmot's proposal.

1. True
2. False

Zachary Taylor adopted a proslavery platform for the 1848 presidential election.

1. True
2. False

President Fillmore was in favor of the Compromise of 1850.

1. True
2. False

An exaggerated loyalty to a particular region of the country is called

1. abolitionism.
2. fugitive slave law.
3. Free-Soil Party.
4. sectionalism.

The plan that preserved the balance between slave and free states in the Senate was the

1. North-South Compromise.
2. Missouri Compromise.
3. Maine Compromise.
4. Slavery Compromise.

The main issue in the presidential election of 1844 was the

1. annexation of Texas.
2. annexation of Maine.
3. annexation of New Mexico.
4. annexation of Missouri.

Who proposed that neither Congress nor local governments had the authority to ban slavery from a territory?

1. Daniel Webster
2. John C. Calhoun
3. Henry Clay
4. Zachary Taylor

President Millard Fillmore persuaded several Whig representatives to not cast votes, or to

1. secede.
2. become a fugitive.
3. abstain.
4. increase sectionalism.