Politics of Slavery
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Transcript of Politics of Slavery
POLITICS OF SLAVERY
NORTH VS SOUTH
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
MASON-DIXON LINE The colonial
surveyor’s line that came to represent the divide between slave and free
SLAVE SOCIETY 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
CAN ONE BE ANTI-SLAVERY IN THE SOUTH?
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
WHITE MEN 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
WILMOT PROVISO 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
DAVID WILMOT OF PENNSYLVANIA
THE TERRITORIES? 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
CONGRESS DOES NOT ACT 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
POLITICAL PARTIES All political parties were split between
those advocating slavery and those against it
ELECTION OF 1848 Democrats: Lewis Cass (‘popular
sovereignty’) Whigs: Zachary Taylor (Mexican War
hero) Free Soil Party: Martin Van Buren
FREE SOIL PARTY 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
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
CONGRESSIONAL SESSION OF 1849 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
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
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
THE COMPROMISE It is more a testament to Douglas’s
political skills than to real compromise It preserved the Union, but only
temporarily
1850 President Zachary Taylor died President Millard Fillmore succeeds him California is admitted to the Union Fugitive Slave Act is passed
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
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE
KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT 1854
JOHN BROWN