1. The House Divided

2. North vs South North South
Northern states had either abolished slavery or put it on the road to extinction
Southern states had built the largest slave society in the world

3. Slave society
The South was not merely a society with slaves. It had become a slave society. Slavery shaped the region’s economy, culture, social structure, and politics.

4. David Wilmot of Pennsylvania

5. The Territories? Should slavery be extended to the territories?
The Wilmot Proviso says no
A compromise of “popular sovereignty” is proposed—let those who live in the territory decide

6. Congress Does not Act
The House of Representatives passed the Wilmot Proviso (it is dominated by northern states)
The Senate rejected the proviso (it is dominated by slave states)
It becomes an issue in the election of 1848

7. Political Parties
All political parties were split between those advocating slavery and those against it

8. Election of 1848 Democrats: Lewis Cass (‘popular sovereignty’)
Whigs: Zachary Taylor (Mexican War hero)
Free Soil Party: Martin Van Buren

9. Free Soil Party
Anti-slavery Whigs and anti-slavery Democrats founded the Free Soil Party, making slavery the central issue of the campaign
Neither the Whigs nor Democrats took an official stand on slavery in the election of 1848

10. Zachary Taylor
Taylor supported the Free Soil approach to the territories—surprising given that he was a Southerner and slaveholder
He encouraged California and New Mexico to draw up constitutions to apply for statehood promptly

11. Congressional Session of 1849
One of the most contentious and significant sessions in its history
Senator Henry Clay proposed a series of resolutions that sought to balance the interests of the slave and free states: The Omnibus Bill
both the anti-slavery people and the “fire- eaters” or radical secessionist Southerners hated Clay’s plan and it failed

12. Great Triumvirate

13. Senator Daniel Webster
Sanctioned compromise, stating that the new territories did not have the climate appropriate for slavery, making it a mute point
Northerners thought he abandoned their cause

14. Senator Stephen Douglas
broke Clay’s compromise into its various parts and skillfully ushered each part through Congress
Combined, the various bills are known as the Compromise of 1850

15. Compromise of 1850 California to enter the Union as a free state
New Mexico and Utah would be decided by popular sovereignty
Texas accepted its boundary with New Mexico
Slave trade in Washington DC would be abolished
Fugitive slave laws would be more stringent

16. Compromise of 1850

17. The Compromise
It is more a testament to Douglas’s political skills than to real compromise
It preserved the Union, but only temporarily

18. 1850 President Zachary Taylor died
President Millard Fillmore succeeds him
California is admitted to the Union
Fugitive Slave Act is passed

19. Fugitive Slave Act
The most explosive measure of the Compromise of 1850
Southerners thought the North betrayed the Compromise
In the North there were some “personal liberty laws” that provided some fugitives with protection
Brutal enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act radicalized the North

20. Harriet Beecher Stowe

21. President Franklin Pierce

23. Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854

24. Political Realignment

27. Know Nothing Party

28. John C. Fremont
First candidate of the Republican Party to run for president

29. Jessie Benton Fremont

30. Anti-slavery candidate

31. President James Buchanan

33. Dred Scott Decision

34. Lincoln-Douglas debates

35. Lincoln challenges Senator Douglas

36. Douglas retains his Senate seat

37. John Brown

38. John Brown’s raid at Harper’s Ferry

39. 1. What was the tone of this execution?
(Answer: Somber and intense; the artist paints the scene in muted colors. The leaves on the trees have died, and all of the spectators are bundled up for the cold autumn weather. The men in the scene wear black, and they do not appear to talk to one another. Nearly everyone watches Brown’s procession. Brown silently and calmly stares forward. A lone African American turns to the viewer with a dismayed look on her face.)
2. How do you think this artist felt about Brown’s execution?
(Answer: The artist felt sympathy for Brown. There is no celebration of the execution. Brown makes no commotion and wears a look of dignity. The African American woman, wearing blue for emphasis, reveals that the author viewed Brown as a hero for his actions.)

40. Lincoln elected 1860