Transcript Chapter 18 Overview

AP US History
Unit 5
1848-1854
State of the Union
 The United States just defeated Mexico
 With the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
the United States has attained the coveted California
territory, the territories west of Texas and north to the
Oregon territory.
 Would slavery extend to the newly acquired lands?
Popular Sovereignty
 The concept that the people of a territory would vote
to decide whether to allow slavery or to extend
freedom to Africans.
 General Lewis Cass: “Father of Popular Sovereignty”
 This puts the slavery debate out of the hands of the
politicians and into the laps of the people.
Election of 1848
 James K. Polk does not want another
run at the Presidency.
 Democrats: Lewis Cass
 Whigs: Zachary Taylor “Hero of
Buena Vista”
 Owned slaves on sugar plantation
in New Orleans
 Free Soil Party: Martin Van Buren
 Against extension of slavery not
on moral grounds but it
eliminated the chances of white
males establishing commerce in
the western territories due to
competition with slave labor.
 Free Soil Party eventually becomes
the Republican Party
1848 Results
 Zachary Taylor’s heroics
in the Mexican War won
him many votes as he
won the Presidential
election of 1848 for the
Whigs.
California Gold Rush: 1849 (49ers)
 Thousands rushed to California
for the prospect of striking it
rich with the discovery of gold in
the region.
 Most of these were lawless men,
virtue-less women.
 Crime, violence,
disorganization, vigilante justice
abounded in the area.
 In an effort to bring law and
order to the area the people
drafted a state constitution and
applied for statehood in 1849. (It
contained no provision for
extending slavery).
1850
 In 1850, prior to California,
there were 15 slave states and
15 free states.
 The South had the upper
hand though with their
President in the executive,
and a majority in the House
of Representatives and in the
judiciary.
 The South was still concerned
that a free California would
set a precedent for all future
additions to the United
States.
Underground Railroad
 The South was also very angry
over the number of slaves
escaping to the North and the
rising abolitionist movement in
the North aiding them on their
way to Canada.
 The Underground RR was an
informal chain of anti-slavery
homes heading north on the way
to Canada.
 Harriet Tubman was a runaway
slave from Md. Who rescued
more than 300 slaves along the
RR.
 To deal with this growing
problem the South wanted a
more strict fugitive slave law.
Henry Clay’s Last Compromise
 President Taylor dies and vice-president Millard Fillmore
takes over the Presidency.
 He supported concessions between the North and the
South with the addition of California.
 Compromise of 1850
California enters as a free state
Territory dispute b/w Texas and NM territory goes to NM
Slave trade outlawed in the District of Columbia
Mexican cession to be organized into NM and Utah
territories. Slavery issue decided by Popular Sovereignty.
 Texas gets 10 million $
 New fugitive slave law
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Compromise of 1850
The New Fugitive Slave Law
 Africans accused of being run-away slaves could not testify
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on their own behalf
They were denied a trial by jury
Federal Commissioners were paid $5 to release them, $10 to
put them “back” into slavery.
Those abolitionists aiding the escaped slaves were heavily
fined, jailed.
In response, the North took on an antagonistic attitude
towards the South.
Massachusetts made it a state law that it was illegal for
state officials to enforce the new fugitive slave law.
The Fall of the Whig Party
 Election of 1852
 Democrats: Franklin
Pierce
 Committed to territorial
expansion
 Whigs: Winfield Scott
 Supported Compromise
of 1850
 Free-Soil Party: John
Hale
1852 Results
 Franklin Pierce and Democrats win
 The Whig voters were split
 Anti-slavery northern Whigs vs. Southern Pro-Slavery
Whigs.
 Free-Soil party stole some Northern Whig votes.
 1852 Election Significance
 Marks the death of the Whig political party
 Rise of sectional political party allegiance rather than
ideological.
Transcontinental Railroad
 A desire to connect the United
States with the newly acquired lands
in the west brought on the idea of a
transcontinental railroad.
 But where would it run? North vs.
South
 Topographically the best route
seemed to be in the South (avoid
Rocky Mountains)
 Also couldn’t run a RR through
unorganized territory.
 Gadsden Purchase: 1853
 $10 million purchase of territory
south of Utah territory and north
of Mexico from Santa Anna for RR
to run through.
The North’s RR Plan
 Stephen Douglas: 1854
 Senator from Illinois “Little Giant” (5’4” tall)
 Excellent orator and leader
 Democrat: was more concerned with making money
rather than slavery issue.
 Wants to run the RR from Chicago to the west to bring
commerce and real estate to Illinois.
 Desires to organize the Nebraska territory.
Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854
 Douglas plan to organize the Nebraska Territory
 Nebraska split into two sections:

Kansas and Nebraska
 These territories would utilize popular sovereignty to
decide slavery issue
 Missouri Compromise would have to be repealed due to
the 36° 30’ latitude line.
Kansas-Nebraska Act: 1854
Kansas-Nebraska Response
 Northerners outraged at the repealing of Missouri
Compromise.
 Republican Party emerges
 Originated in Mid-West (Michigan, Wisconsin)
 Party platform: Moral protest against slavery
 Old northern Whigs, some northern Democrats, Free-
Soilers, Know-nothings.

Abraham Lincoln among most prominent
 Republican party would not be found anywhere south
of the Mason-Dixon line.
 Further cemented the sectional political allegiances.