The Compromise of 1850, Which Was Supposed to Save the Union

US History

Fort Burrows

16.2 -- The Compromise of 1850

Main Idea:

The Compromise of 1850, which was supposed to save the Union,

only inflamed tensions.

Vocabulary:

tensions – barely controlled hostility or anger between groups

secede - to withdraw from membership in a group

fugitive - runaway

civil war - war between people of the same country

Compromise of 1850 - agreement over slavery by which California joined the

union as a free state and a strict fugitive slave law

Fugitive Slave Act - law passed in 1850 that required all citizens to aid in the

capture of runaway slaves

Uncle Tom’s Cabin - 1852 novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe written to show the

evils of slavery and the injustice of the Fugitive Slave Act

moral – holding high principles for proper conduct

Setting the Scene:

Tempers in Congress had reached the boiling point. California had applied to be admitted to the Union as a free state in 1850. Senator Thomas Hurt Benton of Missouri supported California’s request. He denounced Senator Henry Foote of Mississippi for opposing California’s admission.

In response, Senator Foote rose angrily, picked up a pistol, and aimed it at Benton. As other senators watched in horror, Benton turned toward Foote and roared, “Let him fire. Stand out of the way and let the assassin fire!”

No blood was shed in the Senate that day. However, even as Congress tried to reach a new compromise, many Americans began to fear that a peaceful solution to the slavery issue was impossible.

The Slavery Debate Erupts Again

 After the Missouri Compromise, equal amounts of free and slave states entered the

Union

 When California requested entry into the Union as a free state, the balance of Senate power would once again be threatened

 The balance of power shifts !

Э California’s Impact

 In 1849, 15 free states and 15 slave states: California wanted in as a free state

 California free, possibly Oregon, New Mexico, and Utah – also free states

 Southerners feared they would soon be outnumbered in the Senate

 Talk was, ‘the Southern states might possibly secede’ from the United States

 Northern congressmen argued that most of the land of California was North of the Missouri Compromise line; naturally it should be a free state

 The nation was facing a crisis; call out the big-gun compromiser, Henry Clay

¿¿ Why were both Northerners and Southerners concerned about admitting California to the Union ?

1.______2.______

3.______.

Э Clay verses Calhoun

 Henry Clay – ‘the Great Compromiser’; 73 years old, frail and ill, after 30 years, he was still pleading for a nationwide compromise; he warned if they failed to do so, the nation could breaking apart

 Senator John C Calhoun from South Carolina, also ill - dying of tuberculosis, opposed a compromise

 He was so weak, he could not speak his defiant speech to the Senate

 Senator James Mason of Virginia read the speech while Calhoun stared down his adversaries from the North

 In the speech, Calhoun refused to compromise; he insisted slavery be allowed in the ‘new’ Western territories and that fugitive slaves be returned to their owners – slaveholders had a right to their property

 Also, if the North rejected the South’s demands, Calhoun wrote,

“let the states…agree to part in peace. If you are unwilling that we part in peace, tell us so, and we shall know what to do.”

 All Senators knew what Calhoun meant; if an agreement was not reached, the

South would use force to leave the Union

Э Webster Calls for Unity

 Daniel Webster of Massachusetts supported Clay’s plea to save the Union and compromise

 His position was clear, “I speak not as a Massachusetts man, nor as a Northern man, but as an American… I speak today for the preservation of the Union… There can be no such thing as a peaceable secession.”

Daniel Webster, Speech in the US Senate, July 17, 1850

 Webster feared that the states could not separate without a bloody civil war

 Webster did view slavery as evil, however he believed the breakup of the US

was worse than slavery

 He was willing to compromise and support the second of Calhoun’s demands;

Webster would support that Northerners be forced to return fugitive slaves

¿¿ What were the views of Clay. Calhoun, and Webster ?

Clay______Calhoun______Webster______

______.

Compromiseof 1850

 In 1850, as the debate continued, Calhoun died; his final words, “The South! The poor South! GOD knows what will become of her now!”

 President Taylor also dies in 1850

 New President, #13, Millard Fillmore takes office

 He supported Henry Clay’s compromise

 Fillmore was the last Whig to hold the office of President

Э The Compromise Passes

 After more than 70 speeches in favor of a compromise, Henry Clay was too ill to continue the fight

 Stephen Douglas of Illinois took up the compromise fight; he guided Clay’s compromise through Congress in 1850

 Five parts to the Compromise:

 1st – California enters the Union as a free state

 2nd – Mexican Cession was divided into New Mexico and Utah territories

 3rd – Ended slave trade in Washington, D.C.; Congress would not have the power to ban slave trade between slave states

 4th–It included a strict fugitive slave law

 5th – It settled a border dispute between Texas and New Mexico; this is how Texas got its straight-line border to the West

Э Fugitive Slave Act

 Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, 4th on the list, required ALL citizens to help catch runaway slaves

 Citizens that allowed fugitive slaves to escape could be fined $1000 and go to jail

 Special courts were needed to handle the runaway cases

 No jury trial

 Judges received $10 for each accused runaway returned to the South; only $5 for each ‘falsely’ accused African American set free

 ‘Um! 5-bucks free – 10-bucks guilty, same amount of work’; “Guilty send ‘em back South, next case….”

¿¿ What was the significance of the Compromise of 1850 ?

______

______.

Э Reaction

 Northern citizens were angry with the compromise; they would be forced to catch human beings; this made them be part of the ‘slave system’

 Some Northern cities tried to rescue fugitive slaves from their captors

 Others did not obey the law and continued helping runaways run to freedom

 This law was hard for Northerners to accept; the more it was enforced, the more Northerns believed slavery was immoral, evil, and had to end

Uncle Tom’s Cabin: An Antislavery Bestseller

Э A Powerful Story

Э Nationwide Reaction

 Northerners liked the book, Southerns objected ( NO DOUBT )

 Southerners claimed it was not a true picture of slave life; after all, Stowe had seen very little of slavery firsthand

 This book helped change the way Northerners saw slavery

 They no longer relied on Congress to solve the ‘political’ problem of slavery

 ‘Slavery became a moral problem facing every American’

1. Why did the slavery debate erupt again in 1850?

______.

2. What was the impact of the Compromise of 1850?

1st______

2nd______

3rd a.______

b.______

4th ______

5th ______

3. How did Uncle Tom’s Cabin, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852, affect

attitudes toward slavery ?

______.

1 of 16.2 Printer Copy