Chapters 19-22: The Civil War Flashcards
When was popular sovereignty introduced and who introduced it?
Introduced by Lewis Cass, Democratic candidate in 1848
What was popular sovereignty?
doctrine stated that the people of a territory should determine the status of slavery themselves
Why did the general public and the politicians like popular sovereignty?
The public liked it because it followed the democratic tradition of self-determination. Politicians liked it because it seemed a reasonable compromise between a ban on slavery and Southern demands to protect slavery.
Why was the Free Soil Party created?
Northern antislavery forces were unhappy with the choices of Cass and popular sovereignty or Whig Zachary Taylor, a slaveholder.
What were the beliefs of the Free Soil Party?
They formed the Free Soil Party, favoring the Wilmot Proviso and a homestead act that would give small farms to those who wished to settle on public lands.
The Free Soilers argued that slavery undermined the dignity of labor and limited social mobility. Viewing slavery as an economically inefficient, obsolete institution, they believed that slavery should be contained, and that if contained, it would ultimately disappear.
What people were in the Free Soil Party?
Components of the party included antislavery Northern Democrats, Conscience Whigs, members of the Liberty Party, and eastern workers who wanted a homestead act.
Who were the Conscience Whigs?
These were Whigs who condemned slavery on moral grounds. They were based in New England; most later joined the new Republican Party.
Who were the Cotton Whigs?
These were Whigs who favored slavery and who eventually joined the Democrats.
How did the most slaves gain their freedom?
By 1850 1,000 slaves (out of four million) were running away each year. However, more gained their freedom by self-purchase or voluntary emancipation than by escape.
Explain California and the 49ers.
What belief conflict did they start?
Gold was discovered in California in 1848. In 1849 there was a huge rush of 100,000 gold seekers to the territory.
Californians, encouraged by President Taylor, bypassed the territory stage, drafted a constitution that barred slavery, and applied for statehood. Predictably, the North and South disagreed about the status of slavery in California.
What seven things did the Compromise of 1850 do?
The Compromise called for:
1) admitting California as a free state,
2) organizing Utah and New Mexico as territories on the basis of popular sovereignty,
3) adjusting the Texas/New Mexico border (which created a larger area likely to be free soil),
4) transferring responsibility for Texas’ public debt to the national government,
5) abolishing the slave trade (not slavery) in the District of Columbia,
6) establishing a tougher fugitive slave law, and
7) Congress passing a resolution denying its jurisdiction over interstate slave trade.
Why was the Compromise of 1850 needed?
California had petitioned for admission as a free state; this would upset the sectional balance in the Senate. Southern states threatened secession. The nation faced a real possibility of war.
Henry Clay, backed by Stephen Douglas and Daniel Webster, created it.
What was Daniel Webster’s 7th of March Speech?
Why was it significant?
In a famous speech, Webster pleaded with the North to accept the Compromise. Webster argued that it was not necessary to restrict slavery from the Mexican Cession because the area, he believed, was geographically unsuited to cotton farming and slavery.
Significant because although abolitionists branded Webster a traitor, his speech helped the Compromise win acceptance.
What was the Fugitive Slave Law (Bloodhound Bill)?
This was one of the provisions of the Compromise of 1850. It decreed that fleeing slaves could not testify on their own behalf and that they were denied a trial by jury. The federal commissioners who handled the cases received $5 if a slave was declared free and $10 if the slave was found to be a runaway. Northerners who aided the slaves in their escape were subject to heavy fines and jail sentences. Further, this law allowed slave catchers to capture slaves who had reached the North decades earlier.
What was the significance of the Fugitive Slave Law?
Though this law was no better enforced than its predecessors, it helped to unite the North against slavery.
