Sectionalism - Territory
ESSENTIAL QUESTION
- Why were negotiations and diplomacy unsuccessful in preventing the Civil War
Missouri Compromise (aka Compromise of 1820)
- Causes?
- Louisiana Purchase, Cotton, Manifest Destiny
- Proposed by Henry Clay
- Compromise was meant to address the issue of slavery in western territories and maintain balance in the federal government
- Missouri entered the Union as a slave state; Maine entered the union as a free state
- Slavery was to be excluded from all new states in the Louisiana Purchase north of the southern boundary of Missouri
- What could happen because of this compromise?
America in the 1850’s
- Agriculture still mainstay of economy
- Urban population increased from 6% to 20%
- Rural population increased from 5 million to 25 million (80% of population)
- Growth of northwestern states changes politics
- population of Indiana, illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, & Iowa increased from 500,000 to 5 million 1830 - 1860
- Meant free states had majority in Electoral College
- Free labor ideology individualism & egalitarianism
- 4 million immigrants enter U.S., 1840-1860
- 1.4 million Germans
- 1.7 million irish
Wilmot Proviso
- Unsucessful 1846 proposal in congress that would have banned slavery in territory acquired from Mexico after the Mexican - American War.
The Election of 1848
- Whigs elect war hero Zachary Taylor without a platform
- Conscience Whigs join anti-slavery Democrats & Liberty Party to form new Free Soil Party
- Nominated Van Buren
- Received 10% of vote
- Democrats nominated Lewis Cass & criticized the politicization of slavery
The Compromise of 1850
- California admitted as a free state
- New mexico territory organized on basis of popular sovereignty; Texas reduced to present size & compensated
- Utah territory organized on basis of popular sovereignty
- Fugitive Slave Act - Made federal government responsible for catching & returning escaped slaves
- Slave trade (but not slavery) abolished in the District of Columbia
The Election of 1852
- Franklin Pierce won back Van Buren Democrats
- Defeated Gen. Winfield Scott (Virginia Whig)
- 50.8% - 43.9% in popular vote
- 254-42 in electoral vote
- John Hale (Free Soil candidate) polled 4.9%
The End of the Missouri Compromise
Gadsden Purchase (1853) meant to secure southern route for transcontinental railroad * Arranged by James Gadsen & Secretary fo War Jefferson Davis * U.S. paid $10 million to Mexico for over 45,000 acres south of the Gila River Kansas - Nebraska Act ( 1854 ) was meant to secure northern route * Stephen Douglas wrote bill organizing remaining Louisiana Purchase territory into 2 territories on basis of popular sovereignty * Explicitly repealing Missouri Compromise