Growing Tensions Over Slavery Pages 482-485

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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