California Joins as a Free State
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The huge influx of settlers in California caused by the Gold Rush qualified it for admission to the Union. In November 1849, Californians ratified its state constitution banning slavery, prompting a passionate national debate.
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California’s admission would lead to more free states than slave states and an imbalance in the Senate in favor of the North.
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Staunch protectors of slavery in the South, led by Calhoun, feared the northern controlled Federal government would ban slavery. Calhoun claimed that since slaves were property, Congress had no constitutional authority to regulate slavery in the territories (even though they have been doing it since the Northwest Ordinance of 1787). Some threatened secession.
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Other southerners and some Northern Democrats called for a more moderate position: extend the Missouri Compromise Line to the Pacific.
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Another moderate position was popular sovereignty, taking the power away from Congress. Senator Stephen Douglas (D-IL) became this position’s champion.
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Anti-slavery advocates called for Federal legislation limiting slavery to existing boundaries and thus sending it on the road to extinction.
The Compromise of 1850
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Whigs and Democrats worked on a compromise that would try to stave off southern secession.
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Henry Clay (W-KY) created a compromise and with Daniel Webster (W-MA) and Stephen Douglas (D-IL) secured the passage of a series of bills known collectively as the Compromise of 1850.
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For the North:
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California joins as a free state.
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Abolished the slave trade, but not slavery, in the District of Columbia
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Resolved a border dispute between Texas (slave state) and the New Mexico Territory (not determined) in favor of New Mexico.
For the South:
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The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850: penalized officials who did not arrest a suspected runaway slave with a 1,000 dollar fine. Any person providing food and shelter to a suspected fugitive slave could be fined 1,000 dollars and imprisoned for 6 months. African Americans could be determined to be a fugitive slave with as little as a claimant’s sworn testimony of ownership. Habeas Corpus was suspended for suspected fugitive slaves. Since slaves had no trial rights in court, cases were heard by judges that were paid 10 dollars for determining that the person should be returned to slavery and 5 for ruling there was insufficient evidence.
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Popular Sovereignty would determine the issue of slavery in Utah and New Mexico.
President Zachary Taylor was opposed to the compromise but died suddenly and Millard Fillmore became president in 1850. Fillmore signed the bill into law.
Militant pro-slavery southern nationalists known as Fire-Eaters, held conventions in states in the Deep South to prepare for southern secession if slavery is threatened.
The Response to the Fugitive Slave Act
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Election of 1852: Franklin Pierce (D-NH) defeated Winfield Scott (W-NJ) 254-42. Pierce was a northerner who was sympathetic to the southern cause.
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Northern Reaction to the Fugitive Slave Act
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Despite the threat of penalties, northern abolitionists continued their work on the Underground Railroad, now helping runaway slaves reach freedom in Canada.
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Some used violence to stop southern slave catchers when they ventured into the North.
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In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe published the bestselling novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, conveying the moral principles of abolition.
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Claiming states’ rights, northern states passed Personal Liberty Laws guaranteeing all residents, including slaves, the right to trial by jury.
Southerners Sought to Expand Slavery’s Territory
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Franklin Pierce was an expansionist and sought to expand south into Latin America. In 1853, he made the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico in what is today southern Arizona and New Mexico in order to build a transcontinental railroad.
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Pierce threatened war with Spain to acquire Cuba, which still imported slaves and covertly supported filibustering (private military) expeditions. When American diplomats in Europe issued the Ostend Manifesto, encouraging the seizing of Cuba, northern Democrats denounced the plan and ended the idea.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
- With Americans on the West Coast, there was interest in building a transcontinental railroad but the question was where it should connect to the eastern rail network. Northerners wanted it to connect to Chicago while Southerners wanted New Orleans, Memphis, or St. Louis.
- Being a Senator from Illinois, Stephen Douglas wanted Chicago to be chosen. In 1854, to get southern support for the bill, he proposed organizing the Nebraska (necessary to build the railroad through the territory) and Kansas Territories with popular sovereignty determining their slave status. Such a move that would repeal the Missouri Compromise.
- The bill narrowly passed and caused the Whig party to become ardently anti-slavery, to the point that the lack of a stance on the issue caused it and the Second Party System to dissolve.
Reaction to the Kansas-Nebraska Act
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The Republican Party: In 1854, ex-Whigs, Free-Soilers, abolitionists, and northern Know-Nothings (who initially did well politically but split along sectional lines) formed a new major party. Their platform was opposition to slavery, specifically in regards to the western territories, because it drove down wages and was a threat to the middle class. They also supported Whig policies such as an active Federal government in economic matters like subsidizing the transcontinental railroad. This begins the Third Party System.
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Popular Sovereignty Vote in Kansas: In 1855, Kansas was the first state to vote on the slave issue. Anti-slavery settlers with the help of the abolitionist New England Emigrant Aid Company, flocked to the territory. Senator David Atchison from nearby Missouri encouraged Missourians to cross the border and vote (Border Ruffians). The pro-slavery forces won and the Pierce administration accepted the legitimacy of the pro-slavery legislature and their Lecompton Constitution (legalized slavery). In Topeka, Kansas; anti-slavery settlers drafted their own constitution (Topeka Constitution) which banned slavery.
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Bleeding Kansas: By 1856, Kansas had two governments and became the scene of a territorial civil war between anti and pro slavery forces. Each side attacked the other, causing about 200 deaths and significant property damage. Notable events: Border Ruffians sacked the town of Lawrence and abolitionist John Brown massacred 5 pro-slavery settlers at Pottawattomie.
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The Caning of Charles Sumner - On the floor of the Senate, Charles Sumner (R-MA) gave a speech on the topic of Kansas and blamed “Slave Power” for the violence. He particularly singled out Senator Andrew Butler (D-SC) and Stephen Douglas (D-IL). In retribution, Butler’s nephew, Representative Preston Brooks (D-SC), entered into the Senate Chamber and beat Sumner with a cane until Sumner fell unconscious. Senators and Representatives attempted to intervene but were blocked by Representative Henry A. Edmundson (D-VA). Sumner’s injuries were so severe that he would not return to the Senate for three years. He was deemed a martyr by northerners. Brooks resigned his House seat and was celebrated in the South.