April 10 A The Politics of Slavery South 1 Political Reforms Suffrage expands throughout south a All southern white males could vote universal manhood suffrage b Removed property qualifications for holding state offices 2 Plantations state legislatures 3 Electoral Competition a Districts wielded disproportionate amount of power in several b Owners are more wealthy affiliated with elected officials a High turnouts in elections become feature of southern politics b Turnout of about 80 c Politics are becoming more partisan splitting between two different parties d South battling between Whigs and Democrats both portray themselves as poor white s friend e Southern office holders were likely to be slave holder f People own slaves that ran for office had 20 or more slaves g Slaveholders want to protect slavery poor whites also want to protect 4 Poor white s aspire to maintain slavery a Non slaveholding whites wanted slavery to exist b Without slavery white culture in the South is going to disappear c Elites often became friends with poor whites d Planter elites keep tax burden small e Make sure slavery isn t talked about everyone knows its important 5 Slavery was too important to debate a Critical of slavery were often driven out and killed 6 Bound together classes of white people a Bound together by ties of slaves whether you had slaves or not b Held it together by elections VI House Divided A Expansion of Slavery 1 Slavery still left up to states a North got rid of it b South kept it depends on it 2 Territories becoming states a Free vs Slave state issues 3 Democratic representative David Wilmot proposes Wilmot Proviso a Land that Mexico ceded to U S after Mexican American war should be banned from having slaves in it b Most of this land was in the South and was below line stated from Missouri Compromise c Mexico already abolished slavery in these lands before d North thinks this is a great idea South upset about this e North believed idea supported free soil 1 All land in certain area can not have slavery on it 2 North thought West was going to be for free labor self working reliant men such as yeomen farmers 3 Free Soil Party anti south 4 Slave territories meant more slave states more slave states means more power for south 5 Senate outraged by Wilmot Proviso viewed west as economic opportunity for them f Southerners argued this was a slap in the face to Mexican American veterans 1 Fought for land from Mexico g Southerners feel the need to keep up with the North and their h Free states will devastate South and North will have upper hand diversified economy for first time ever 4 North has majority in House of Representatives and Proviso is passed 5 Senate defeats the Wilmot Proviso a John C Calhoun argues territories belong equally to the North and South 6 Two sides do not see the same thing the same way 7 Wilmot Proviso has been rejected 8 Senator Luis Cass offers compromise for Wilmot Proviso problem 9 Popular Sovereignty people in state decide what their status what 10 Goal is to take issue that can t make a decision in Congress and give it to people in states territories 11 Popular sovereignty is ambiguous 12 Won t know until after Constitution is made B Compromise of 1850 1 President Polk decides not to seek re election Democrats choose Luis Cass but don t run him on a anti slavery campaign 2 Whigs nominate General Zachary Taylor Mexican American War hero who remained silent on issue of slavery a Hoping to unite party b Taylor owns more than 100 slaves on his two plantations c Anti slavery Whigs want an alternative to Taylor form Free Soil Party 3 Free Soil Party run Martin Van Beuren a Free Soil party Free speech free labor free men b Didn t take a single state 4 Zachary Taylor wins 1848 election a 1849 decides he is a Free Soiler b Wants New Mexico and California to skip territorial stage to avoid sectional tension 5 Congress meets in December in most contentious and important meetings step process a Taylor wants California to be admitted immediately skip three b Southerners exploded Taylor betrayed the South 6 Henry Clay agrees California admitted as free state a But thinks rest of southwest from Mexico should have no limits on slavery b Enact stricter Fugitive Slave Law c Abolishing domestic slave trade in D C d Gives south everything and nothing to what North really wants e South upset destroy parallel between north and south politically 7 Rise in southern sentiment to succeed 1850 8 Daniel Webster a Both North and South have legitimate issues Didn t like Wilmot Proviso thought it was useless b Thought that there could be a compromise called traitor by North c Committee produces Omnibus Bill one that can be written by many people d Henry Clay believed majority of Congress wanted compromise of some sort and would accept a package with things they did and didn t like e Omnibus Bill backfires Free Soilers and Pro slavery southerners reject it 9 Stephen Douglas separately a Breaks Omnibus Bill in parts and puts in through Congress b Looks the same when Henry Clay proposed it the first time c Douglas gets Cali to be a free state New Mexico and Utah territories decided by popular sovereignty d Congress ends slave trade in D C area e Enact more stringent federal Fugitive Slave law f Assigned into law by new president Miller Fillmore because Taylor died slavery 10 Collectively known as Compromise of 1850 instead of Omnibus Bill a Bought more time to figure out a real solution to problem of b Deep conflict over slavery and it had not been resolved 11 Fugitive Slave Act a Return any person held to service in labor in one state who escaped to another already in Constitution b Not satisfactory for Southerners c This act gives slave holding southerners the ability to approach commissioners and claim an alleged slave is theirs d All citizens were expected to comply with this in any way possible e Assist officials in catching runaways stopping underground f North very upset about this anybody who looked like a slave could be called someone s slave and shipped off to a plantation g South were angry at North for being so resistant betraying 12 Uncle Tom s Cabin Novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe a Abolitionist women never been to South before she wrote this railroad compromise book as a sin b Made slavery more real than anything ever done to expose slavery c Sold 300 000 copies first year it was published d Within 10 years sold 2 million copies e Aimed at showing destructive impact of
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