The Union in Crisis Chapter 10

The North, a manufacturing society The South, an agricultural society Cities and towns were trade centers Factories and farms produced goods Paid labor source, few slaves Many immigrants Cities and towns were few and far between Large plantations and small farms were source of wealth Enslaved labor force of African Americans Few immigrants

The North and the South had very different views of slavery.

Slavery and the North Slavery and the South Few people had slaves and slavery ended by 1860. Slavery was an integral part of life with over 1 million enslaved African Americans. Early in the 1800s, some northerners began to work for the abolition of slavery. Many believed God intended blacks to provide labor for whites. Many northern states limited the rights and migration of free African Americans, so many white northerners had little contact with them. Southerners claimed that enslaved people were healthier and happier than northern wage earners.

In the election of 1848, the two political parties, the Democrats and the Whigs, split over the issue of slavery and a third party was formed, the Free-Soil Party.

Gov Lewis Cass of Michigan Zachary Taylor The Democrats and Whigs were forced to address the slavery issue. Both parties supported popular sovereignty, having voters in a territory decide whether their territory would be free or slave. Kept with the tradition of American democracy. It would also remove Congress from the controversy.

Once again, the slavery issue was debated in the Senate by three political leaders. Henry Clay from the West Daniel Webster from the North John Calhoun from the South

Compromise of 1850 Calhoun and Webster’s positions on Clay’s compromise during Senate debate: Calhoun Webster Clay’s compromise did not give the South enough protection. The South would break away from the Union if it did not get its demands on the slavery issue. Any state had the right to secede if it disagreed with national laws. The states should rally to the cause of unity. Sectional compromise was needed in order to preserve the Union. Webster supported popular sovereignty.

The Compromise of 1850 finally became a law stating that: The North The South California would be admitted to the Union as a free state. Congress would pass a stricter fugitive slave law. The territories of New Mexico and Utah would decide on slavery by a vote. Slavery would be enforced in Wash., DC, although the slave trade would be abolished. The compromise brought calm to the nation, but larger crises loomed.

The Fugitive Slave Act, part of the Compromise of 1850, required all citizens to catch and return runaway slaves.

nullified the Fugitive Slave Act. enabled state officials to arrest slave catchers for kidnapping free African Americans. increased northern white support of abolitionism. Some Northern states passed personal liberty laws. These laws:

Free blacks and Northern abolitionists organized an escape network called the Underground Railroad. The map shows the routes “conductors” used to lead enslaved blacks to freedom.

A fugitive slave from Maryland, Harriet Tubman, was called the “Black Moses” because she led so many people to freedom on the Underground Railroad.

Popular novels condemned slavery, gaining northern support for abolition and infuriating the South. White abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin that gave readers compassion for the nonviolent enslaved Tom. Black abolitionist Martin Delany wrote Blake in which the enslaved Blake chooses to rebel violently against slavery.

The legislation divided Nebraska territory into two separate areas. Residents of both Kansas and Nebraska voted to allow or outlaw slavery. Congress assumed Kansas would become a slave state and Nebraska a free state. Northerners and Southerners went to Kansas to influence the vote. Kansas-Nebraska Act was enacted in the spring of 1854.

Pro-slavery Southern Border Ruffians from Missouri attacked the anti-slavery town of Lawrence, Kansas. Northern abolitionist John Brown responded by killing five pro-slavery settlers. Both sides armed and readied for battle. Passage of the Act set off violence between Northerners and Southerners.

Describing the violence in Kansas, reporters called the territory “Bleeding Kansas.”

The dispute over Kansas: The South wanted Kansas to be a slave state. The North wanted Kansas to be a free state. In 1861, after the Civil War started, Kansas joined the Union as a free state.

Violence over the slavery issue broke out in the U. S. Senate Violence over the slavery issue broke out in the U.S. Senate. Southern Representative Brooks badly beat Northern Senator Sumner. The national tension over slavery grew wider and deeper, with violence spreading even to Congress.