1. Chapter 14: The Nation Divided
Section 2: Compromises Fail

2. The Compromise of 1850
Sept. 1850: Congress passes 5 laws based on Clay’s proposals
Pres. Zachary Taylor opposed the Compromise bills – but died in 1850
New President Millard Fillmore approved the Compromise bills
Zachary Millard
Taylor Fillmore

3. To Please the North California is admitted as a Free State
Banned the slave trade in D.C.
Congress declares it does not have a right to regulate slave trade between the slave states

4. To Please the South
Popular Sovereignty will be used to determine the slavery question in the rest of the Mexican Cession
Southerner’s got a tough new fugitive slave law
Fugitive Slave Act (1850): suspects had no right to a trial; only 1 white witness was required to claim the person was a slave; Northern citizens had to help capture runaways

5. Outrage in the North
Northerners insisted they would resist the new law
Outraged to see people accused of being slaves being denied their freedom
Thousands of Northern African Americans fled to Canada, even those who had never been enslaved…

6. Outrage in the North
North: city after city banded together to fight against the Fugitive Slave Laws
Some threatened the slave catchers with harm
Some rescued accused runaways and sent them to Canada
Convinced many Northerners that slavery was evil

7. Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe: daughter of an abolitionist preacher
Met many people that escaped from slavery
1852: Stowe’s book became a best-seller in the North – shocked thousands of people
Turns slavery from a political problem into a MORAL problem
Southerners viewed the book as Propaganda – novel was not accurate

8. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
Senator Stephen Douglas pushed the law through – develop lands west of his home in Illinois
Wanted to create 2 new territories – Kansas Territory & Nebraska Territory
South refused – the new territories would forbid slavery because of the Missouri Compromise

9. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
To win southern support – Douglas proposed to let each new territory use Popular Sovereignty to decide the slavery question…
Thus, the Kansas-Nebraska Act undid the Missouri Compromise
South supported these proposals – they were sure slave owners in Missouri would migrate to Kansas

10. Kansas-Nebraska Act
North believed Douglas had betrayed them – reopened the issue of slavery in the territories
Southern support in Congress allowed the act to pass in both houses
President Franklin Pierce (1852) signed the bill into law

11. Bleeding Kansas
Pro-slavery & Anti-slavery forces flooded into Kansas after passage of the bill
Both wished to maintain the majority in time for the vote
Thousands of Missourians rushed into Kansas to illegally vote for the territorial legislature
Kansas had only 3,000 registered voters – 8,000 votes were cast!

12. Bleeding Kansas
Of the 39 legislators elected – all but 3 supported slavery…
Anti-Slavery elements refused to accept the results & held another election
Kansas now had two competing governments, each claiming the right to impose their laws on the territory

13. Bleeding Kansas
A proslavery sheriff was shot in Lawrence trying to arrest anti-slavery settlers
He returned w/ 800 men & attacked the town
John Brown (antislavery settler) led 7 men to a small proslavery settlement – murdered 5 proslavery men and boys

14. Bleeding Kansas These events set off widespread violence in Kansas
Proslavery and Antislavery elements roamed the countryside, terrorizing people who did not support their views
Charles Sumner denounced the South, Slavery, and Pro-slavery congressmen in the Senate
Preston Brooks then beat Sumner unconscious on the floor of the Senate with a heavy cane

15. Questions What was the Compromise of 1850 and why did it fail?
How did the Compromise of 1850 deal with the admission of California to the Union?
What impact did Uncle Tom’s Cabin have?
How did Stephen Douglas plan undo the Missouri Compromise?
What was the outcome of the election to select a legislature in the Kansas Territory?