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Renewing the Sectional Struggle: Popular Sovereignty, California Gold, and the Compromise of 1850

This chapter explores the sectional tensions in the United States from 1848 to 1854, focusing on the concept of popular sovereignty, the California gold rush, the Underground Railroad, the Compromise of 1850, and the declining power of the Whig party.

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Renewing the Sectional Struggle: Popular Sovereignty, California Gold, and the Compromise of 1850

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  1. Chapter 18 Renewing the Sectional Struggle, 1848–1854

  2. I. The Popular Sovereignty Panacea • 1848 Democrats nominated General Lewis Cass • Cass was the reputed father of popular sovereignty • Doctrine said each state would decide slavery issue • It had a persuasive appeal • People liked the democratic tradition • Self-determination for each state • Made it a ‘state’ issue, not a national issue • Politicians liked the ‘comfortable compromise’ • The free-soilers’ bid for a ban on slavery • Southern demands that Congress protect slavery • Yet, popular sovereignty had one fatal defect • It might serve to spread the blight of slavery.

  3. II. Political Triumphs for General Taylor • The Whigs nominated Zachary Taylor (war hero) • Free Soil partynominated Martin van Buren • Also wanted internal improvement, free homesteads • They foreshadowed the Republican party • 1848 election results • Zachary Taylor wins Taylor (W) Cass (D) Van Buren (FS) Popular 1,360,967 1,222,342 291,263* Electoral 163 127 0 *Van Buren hurt Cass in the critical state of New York

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  5. Map 18-1 p380

  6. III. “Californy Gold” • The discovery of gold on the American River • Sutter’s Mill, California, early in 1848 • The California gold rush(“forty-niners”) • Attracted tens of thousands of people • Influx & crime demanded more government • Drafted a constitution in 1849 that excluded slavery • Had been encouraged by President Taylor • California applied for statehood • Bypassed the usual territorial stage

  7. p381

  8. IV. Sectional Balance and the Underground Railroad • The South of 1850 was relatively well-off • But worried by the ever-tipping political balance: • 15 slave states and 15 free states • Southerner slave states • Concerned about abolition in District of Columbia • Wanted more stringent fugitive-slave law (1850) • Underground Railroad allowed slaves to escape • Amazing conductor: Harriet Tubman. • Texas had additional grievances • Concerned about territory east of the Rio Grande

  9. p381

  10. p382

  11. Map 18-2 p382

  12. V. Twilight of the Senatorial Giants • Congressional catastrophe in 1850 • Free-soil California wanted admission • “Fire-eaters” in the South threatened secession • Henry Clay-The “Great Compromiser” • John C. Calhoun-The “Great Nullifier” • Daniel Webster-Seventh of March speech(1850) • Webster regarded slavery as evil but disunion worse

  13. VI. Deadlock and Danger on Capitol Hill • William H. Seward led younger antislaveryites • Pres. Taylor promised to veto Cong. compromise

  14. VII. Breaking the Congressional Logjam • Millard Fillmore=President when Taylor dies • He gladly signed Compromise of 1850 • Heat in the Congress • “fire-eaters” violently opposed to compromise • Met in Nashville, decided no succession • The second Era of Good Feelings dawned • Talk of secession subsided • Peace-loving people, happy with compromise • Slavery issue had “finality”

  15. p385

  16. VIII. Balancing the Compromise Scales • Measuring the 1850 Compromise • For the North = California becomes a free state • Tipped the balance to the North • 16 free states, 15 slave states • For the South = Fugitive Slave Law (1850) • Fleeing slaves: Couldn’t testify, denied a jury trial • Free blacks subject to “man-stealing” • Northerners liable to be fined / jailed • Angered and rallied anti-slavery Northerners

  17. Map 18-3 p386

  18. p387

  19. IX. Defeat and Doom for the Whigs • 1852 Elections • Democrats nominate Franklin Pierce • Prosouthern northerner, supported compromise • Supported territorial expansion • The Whigs nominated Winfield Scott • Best general of his generation, supported compromise • Whig party split over slavery • 1852 Election Results • Pierce won in a landslide 254 electoral vote to 42 • Popular vote 1,601,117 to 1,385,453 for Pierce • Marked the effective end of the Whig party

  20. Map 18-4 p388

  21. X. Expansionist Stirrings South of the Border • The spirit of Manifest Destiny was revived • Desire for a transcontinental railroad • Desire to control isthmus of Panama • Southern “slavocrats” looked southward • Promoted revolution in Nicaragua • Then legalized slavery • Sugar-rich Cuba • Enticing prospect for annexation • They already had a large population of enslaved blacks • Ostend Manifesto • Urged U.S. administration to offer $120 million for Cuba.

  22. Map 18-5 p389

  23. XI. The Allure of Asia • Americans wanted to tap the rich Asian markets • Opium War—Britain gained trade rights • Treaty of Wanghia (1844) Gave U.S. China rights • America now wanted trade rights in Japan • Japan isolated from world for ~200 years • Perry led U.S. ships into Tokyo Bay (July 1853) • Treaty of Kanagawa signed (March 1854)

  24. XII. Pacific Railroad Promoters and the Gadsden Purchase • Mex. War legacy creates a geographic problem • California /Oregon, 8000 miles west of the capital • A transcontinental railroad was needed • Where to build the railroad? • The Gadsden Purchase for $10 million (1853) • James Gadsden – Santa Anna Negotiate • Best route for the southern railroad • Northerners wanted Nebraska Territory organized

  25. p391

  26. Map 18-6 p392

  27. XIII. Douglas’s Kansas-Nebraska Scheme • Proposed Nebraska Territory to be split • Kansas and Nebraska • Slavery would be decided by popular sovereignty • Assumption - Kansas to become a slave state • Assumption - Nebraska would become a free state. • Plan contradicted the Missouri Compromise of 1820 • Southerners supported the plan • Would create a huge political / social conflict • And make Douglas more popular

  28. p393

  29. Map 18-7 p393

  30. XIV. Congress Legislates a Civil War • The Kansas-Nebraska Act • One of the most momentous ongressional measures • It greased the slippery slope to Civil War • The Act wrecked two compromises (1820 and 1850) • Extremists nsaw less and less they could live with • The Democratic Party was shattered • The Republican Party was born • Gathered dissatisfied Whigs, Democrats, Free-Soilers, Know-Nothings, Kansas-Nebraska foes • Including Abraham Lincoln • Never supported south of the Mason-Dixon Line

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