Saving the Union

1. Saving the Union Chapter 15, Section 2

2. 1850 California asked to join the Union as a free state. • Most of California lay north of the Missouri Compromise line

3. Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri supported California’s request • Senator Henry Foote of Mississippi helped block California’s admission • Foote drew a pistol at Benton’s chest • No shot was fired

4. Seeking a Compromise • For a time both free and slave states entered the Union peacefully • Michigan, Iowa, and Wisconsin entered as free states • Arkansas, Florida, and Texas entered as slave states • California upset the balance in the Senate

5. Seeking a Compromise • South did not want to give the North a majority in the Senate • Also feared that more free states would be carved out the huge Mexican cession • Some southerners talked about seceding from the Union

6. Clay pleads for compromise • Clay had won the nickname “the great Compromiser” for working out the Missouri Compromise • 73 year old Clay pleaded for the north and South to reach an agreement • If not the nation could break apart

7. Calhoun replies • Senator John C. Calhoun of South Carolina prepared the South’s reply to Clay • Dying of tuberculosis, Calhoun had another Senator read his speech

8. Calhoun replies • Insisted slavery be allowed in the Western territories • Demanded that fugitives, or un away slaves, be returned to their owners in the South • If the north does not agree to the South’s demands “let the states part in peace” • If you are unwilling to part in peace we shall know what to do

9. Webster calls for Unity • Daniel Webster of Massachusetts spoke next • Clay’s rival for years • Now supported Clay’s plea to save the Union • Webster feared the states could not separate without a civil war • Civil war: a war between people of the same country

10. Webster calls for Unity • Webster viewed slavery as evil but disunion was worse • He would support the South’s demand that northerners return fugitive slaves

11. A Compromise at Last • 1850 Calhoun and President Taylor died • Millard Filmore, the new president supported Clay’s compromise

12. A Compromise at Last • Clay became too sick to continue giving speeches in favor of a compromise • Stephen Douglas , a Senator from Illinois, took his place • Douglas guided Clay’s plan, the Compromise of 1850, through Congress

13. A Compromise at Last • Compromise of 1850 • 1.California was allowed to enter the Union as a free state • 2. The rest of the Mexican cession was divided into the territories of New Mexico and Utah • In each territory voters would decide the slavery question according to popular sovereignty • 3. Slave traded ended in Washington D.C. • 4.A strict new fugitive slaw was passed

14. The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 • Required all citizens to help catch runaway slaves • People who helped fugitives escape could be fined $1,000 and jailed for six months

15. Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 • Set up special courts to handle the cases of runaway slaves • Judges received $10 for sending a runaway to the South • $5 for setting someone free • Some judges sent African Americans to the South whether or not they were runaways • Thousands of free African Americans fled to Canada

16. Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 • Enraged northerners • Made them fell they were part of the slave system • Convinced more northerners slavery was evil

17. An Antislavery Bestseller • Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin • Written to show the evils of slavery and injustice of the fugitive Slave Law • Told the story of Uncle Tom, an enslaved African American his owner Simon Legree treats his slaves brutally and in the end whips Uncle Tom until he dies

18. An Antislavery Bestseller • The book helped to change the way northerners felt about slavery • They now saw it as a moral problem