The Debate Over Slavery Chapter 15

A. New Land Renews Slavery Disputes

1. The US gained more than 500,000 square miles of land in the Mexican-American War, this renewed the fight over slavery

2. Regional Differences One proposed solution: The Wilmot Proviso which would make all of the new territory free – It died in the Senate Sectionalism became an issue

3. The California Question Most people in CA. opposed slavery Admitting CA. as a free state would upset the delicate Senate balance.

B. Compromise of 1850

1. California would enter the Union as a free state

2. The rest of the Mexican Cession = federal (U. S. ) land 2. The rest of the Mexican Cession = federal (U.S.) land. The slavery issue to be decided by Popular Sovereignty

3. Texas would give up some land and the U. S 3. Texas would give up some land and the U.S. government would pay off it’s debt to Mexico

Slave trade would end in Washington D.C. (not slavery)

5. A new fugitive slave act was passed

C. Reactions the the Compromise of 1850 Opposed by John C. Calhoun - claimed it would destroy the nation’s balance and lead to Civil War. Believed that the South had a right to secede. Daniel Webster was instrumental in getting the bill passed.

D. The Fugitive Slave Act

1. Details Made it a crime to help runaway slaves & forced officials to arrest slaves in free areas or go to jail 6 months in jail and pay a $1000 fine Only white people could testify. Commissioners earned $5 for setting a slave free and $10 for sending them back.

2. Reactions Thousands of African Americans from the U.S. fled to Canada Northerners hate the Fugitive Slave act, especially the lack of trial by jury Most that resisted did so peacefully, however sometimes violence erupted such as the Anthony Burns Case