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Politics of Slavery. North. South. By the early 19 th century, northern states had either abolished slavery or put it on the road to extinction. southern states were building the largest slave society in the New World. North vs South. Mason-Dixon Line.
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North South • By the early 19th century, northern states had either abolished slavery or put it on the road to extinction • southern states were building the largest slave society in the New World North vs South
Mason-Dixon Line • The colonial surveyor’s line that came to represent the divide between slave and free
The South was not merely a society with slaves. It had become a slave society. Slavery shaped the region’s economy, culture, social structure, and politics. Whites south of the Mason-Dixon line believed that slavery was necessary and just. By making all blacks outcasts, all whites bound themselves together Slave society
Anti-slavery Southerners were hounded from speaking out; professors, clerics, or politicians who even were slightly anti-slavery were driven from jobs and in some cases the victims of violence Can one be anti-slavery in the South?
Argued about many things. The things they agreed on: Take land from Indians Promote agriculture Uphold white supremacy Maintain masculine privilege Defend all of the above from enemies White men in the South
August 1846, Pennsylvania Democrat David Wilmot proposed that Congress bar slavery in all lands acquired in the War with Mexico • Northerners of both parties supported it • Southerners of both parties were outraged • Southerners demanded political parity—equal power in Washington Wilmot Proviso
Should slavery be extended to the territories? • The Wilmot Proviso says no • A compromise of “popular sovereignty” is proposed—let those who live in the territory decide The Territories?
The House of Representatives passed the Wilmot Proviso (it is dominated by northern states) The Senate rejected the proviso (it is dominated by slave states) It becomes an issue in the election of 1848 Congress Does not Act
All political parties were split between those advocating slavery and those against it Political Parties
Democrats: Lewis Cass (‘popular sovereignty’) Whigs: Zachary Taylor (Mexican War hero) Free Soil Party: Martin Van Buren Election of 1848
Anti-slavery Whigs and anti-slavery Democrats founded the Free Soil Party, making slavery the central issue of the campaign Neither the Whigs nor Democrats took an official stand on slavery in the election of 1848 Free Soil Party
Zachary Taylor • Taylor supported the Free Soil approach to the territories—surprising given that he was a Southerner and slaveholder • He encouraged California and New Mexico to draw up constitutions to apply for statehood promptly
One of the most contentious and significant sessions in its history • Senator Henry Clay proposed a series of resolutions that sought to balance the interests of the slave and free states: The Omnibus Bill • both the anti-slavery people and the “fire-eaters” or radical secessionist Southerner’s savaged Clay’s plan and it failed Congressional Session of 1849
Senator Daniel Webster • Sanctioned compromise, stating that the new territories did not have the climate appropriate for slavery, making it a mute point • Northerners thought he abandoned their cause
Senator Stephen Douglas • broke Clay’s compromise into its various parts and skillfully ushered each part through Congress • Combined, the various bills are known as the Compromise of 1850
California entered the Union as a free state New Mexico and Utah would be decided by popular sovereignty Texas accepted its boundary with New Mexico Slave trade in Washington DC would be abolished Fugitive slave laws would be more stringent Compromise of 1850
It is more a testament to Douglas’s political skills than to real compromise It preserved the Union, but only temporarily The Compromise
President Zachary Taylor died President Millard Fillmore succeeds him California is admitted to the Union Fugitive Slave Act is passed 1850
Fugitive Slave Act • The most explosive measure of the Compromise of 1850 • Southerners thought the North betrayed the Compromise • In the North there were some “personal liberty laws” that provided some fugitives with protection • Brutal enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act radicalized the North
