Missouri Compromise The issue of slavery and the movement West

free states and 11 slave states Problem- what to do with new territories?

territories want to enter Maine Missouri- (about 2,000 slaves)

Missouri Compromise also known as The Compromise of 1820 Maine to enter as a free state Missouri as a slave state Compromise stated: No slavery north of 36° 30` latitude

Interactive map of Missouri Compromise nhistory.org/neh/interactive s/sectionalism/lesson1/ nhistory.org/neh/interactive s/sectionalism/lesson1/

The Election of 1848 Whigs elect war hero Zachary Taylor without a platform Conscience Whigs join anti-slavery Democrats & Liberty Party to form new Free Soil Party –Nominated Van Buren –Received 10% of vote Democrats nominated Lewis Cass & criticized politicization of slavery Copyright 2000, Bedford/St. Martin’s

The Compromise of 1850 California admitted as a free state New Mexico territory organized on basis of popular sovereignty; Texas reduced to present size & compensated Utah territory organized on basis of popular sovereignty Fugitive Slave Act made federal government responsible for catching & returning escaped slaves Slave trade (but not slavery) abolished in the District of Columbia

Map: Compromise of 1850

Northern Response to the Compromise of 1850

Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1851)

The End of the Missouri Compromise Gadsden Purchase (1853) meant to secure southern route for transcontinental railroad –Arranged by James Gadsden & Secretary of War Jefferson Davis –U.S. paid $10 million to Mexico for over 45,000 acres south of the Gila River Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) meant to secure northern route –Stephen Douglas wrote bill organizing remaining Louisiana Purchase territory into 2 territories on basis of popular sovereignty –Explicitly repealed Missouri Compromise

Rounding Out the Lower 48 Copyright 2000, Bedford/St. Martin’s Press

The Kansas-Nebraska Act

Bleeding Kansas Abolitionist & proslavery forces race to populate Kansas & write state constitution –Both sides stage terrorist attacks –Jayhawks led by John Brown responsible for Pottawatomie Massacre –157 violent deaths, but only 38 definitely related to slavery conflict Congressman Preston Brooks savagely beat Senator Charles Sumner in the Senate (May 22, 1856) John Brown

Brooks Beats Sumner

The Election of 1856 Democrats nominate Ambassador James Buchanan Southern Whigs & Know-Nothings form American Party – nominate Fillmore Conscience Whigs, Antislavery Democrats & Free Soilers form new Republican Party – nominate Fremont James BuchananJohn C. Fremont

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) Dred Scott was slave of Army doctor –had lived in free state & territory –sued for freedom Chief Justice Roger Taney ruled: –Scott had no standing to bring suit –African Americans are not citizens & have no rights –Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional –Any attempt to limit slavery in territories (even by territorial legislature) unconstitutional Dred Scott Roger Taney

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates Buchanan backed fraudulent pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution (1858) Douglas opposed – declared “Freeport Doctrine” in debates with Lincoln –Dred Scott ruling must be respected –Territories could still bar slavery by failing to pass necessary laws –Lincoln pointed out inherent contradiction

John Brown’s Body Brown was Connecticut native with apocalyptic vision Led raid on federal arsenal in Harper’s Ferry, VA to start slave rebellion Convicted of treason against Commonwealth of Virginia & executed Became martyr to abolitionists The arraignment of John Brown Brown’s Last Moments, by Thomas Hovdenden (1884)