1. Growing Tensions Over Slavery
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2. Objectives
Explain why conflict arose over the issue of slavery in the territories after the Mexican-American war
Identify the goal of the Free-Soil Party
Describe the compromise Henry Clay proposed to settle the issues that divided the North and the South

3. Focus Question
How did the question of admission of new states to the Union fuel the debate over slavery and states’ rights?

4. Review: What was the Missouri Compromise?
an agreement in 1820 between pro-slavery and anti-slavery groups in the United States concerning the extension of slavery into new territories

5. The U.S. between 1820 and 1848
Four slave states and four free states were added to the Union
Balance was maintained between free and slaveholding states with 15 states each
The problem: Territory gained during the Mexican-American War threatened to destroy the balance

6. The Wilmot Proviso
The Missouri Compromise did not apply to the huge territory gained from Mexico
Representative David Wilmot of Pennsylvania proposed that Congress ban slavery in this territory
Proposal was called the Wilmot Proviso
Never became law, but it did arouse great concern in the South

7. Why was the South alarmed by the Wilmot Proviso?
Banning new slave states would give free states a majority in both houses of Congress

8. An Antislavery Party
The controversy over the Wilmot Proviso led to the rise of a new political party
Senator Lewis Cass suggested an idea that would appeal to everyone: popular sovereignty
meant that people in the territory or state would vote directly on issues, rather than having their own elected representatives decide
Whigs and Democrats wanted to take a stronger stand against slavery than this
formed to create the Free-Soil Party

9. Free-Soil Party
Called for the territory gained in the Mexican-American War to be “free soil”
a.k.a, A place where slavery was banned
What was the goal of the Free-Soil Party?
To prevent the spread of slavery to territory gained in the Mexican-American War

10. A Bitter Debate Gold sent thousands west to California
California had enough people to become a state
California’s admission as a free state would upset the balance in the Senate
Southern leaders began to threaten to secede, or withdraw, from the Union if California was admitted to the Union as a free state

11. Other Issues Dividing the North and South
Northerners wanted the slaved trade abolished in Washington, D.C.
Southerners wanted northerners to catch people who had escaped from slavery
Southerners called for a law that would force the return of fugitives, or runaway enslaved people

12. Henry Clay’s Proposals
Clay had won the nickname the “Great Compromiser” for working out the Missouri Compromise
Made a series of proposals he hoped would forever resolve the issues
The Senate’s discussion of Clay’s proposals produced one of the greatest debates in American political history

13. Clay’s Proposals
Texas would give up its claim to New Mexico, as well as its claims north of the Missouri Compromise Line
California would be admitted as a free state with its current boundaries
The South would not have to adopt the Wilmot Proviso, and the new Utah Territory and New Mexico Territory would be allowed, under the principle of popular sovereignty, to decide whether to allow slavery within their borders
The slave trade would be banned in Washington D.C.

14. Calhoun vs. Webster
South Carolina Senator John C. Calhoun was against compromise
Claimed there was only two ways to preserve the South’s way of life:
1) a constitutional amendment
2) secession
Massachusetts Senator Daniel Webster supported Clay’s proposals
Argued Clay’s compromise would preserve the Union
VS.

15. Focus Question
How did the question of admission of new states to the Union fuel the debate over slavery and states’ rights?