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The Missouri Compromise was the legislation that provided for the admission of Maine to the United States as a free state along with Missouri as a slave state, thus maintaining the balance of power between North and South in the United States Senate. As part of the compromise, slavery was prohibited north of the 36°30′ parallel, excluding Missouri. The 16th United States Congress passed the legislation on March 3, 1820, and President James Monroe signed it on March 6, 1820.
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1849-1850
Was a Whig
Millard Fillmore was his Vice President
Talor died in office -
1850-1853
Was a Whig
Didn't have a Vice President.
Fillmore became president when Taylor died in office -
The Compromise of 1850 consists of five laws passed in September of 1850 that dealt with the issue of slavery.
Northern States... statehood for Calif. as a free state; Ban slavery in New Mexico & Utah; End slavery in DC; Oppose any fugitive slave law that would endanger runaways.
Southern States... Reluctant to add Calif. unless other territories are open to slavery; Slavery must be allowed in Utah & New Mexico; Continue to allow slavery; Strong fugitive slave law to help track down runaways. -
Proposed by Henry Clay
Calif is admitted as free state
New Mexico & Utah can choose to slavery or not
Slave trade was abolished in DC
Passed Fugitive Slave Law -
Article IV, Section 2: Fugitive Slave Clause
Required all citizens to help catch runaway slaves or be fined $1,000 or imprisoned
Judges received $10 if slave was sent back to South and $5 if slave stayed in the North - Judges often sent African Americans to the South if they were slaves or not so they can get extra money.
Underground Railroad -
Book that brought to light the horrors of slavery through characters of Uncle Tom and Eliza
Set off a tidal of abolitionist feelings in the North
Southerners defended slavery as "necessary and good" and claimed the book was full of lies about slave life and plantation owners.
"So you're the little lady who made this great war." - quote from President Lincoln about Harriet Beecher Stowe -
1853–1857
Was a Democrat
Vice President was William King
Did the Gadsden Purchase which bought Mexico for $10 million (needed the land to complete the railroad) -
Idea of Stephen Douglas in order to organize territory for the building of a transcontinental railroad from Chicago to Calif.
Created territories of Kansas and Nebraska, which lay North of the Missouri Compromise Line
To gain the Southern support, Douglas called for a popular sovereignty in the territories which made the Missouri Compromise void -
Anti-slavery Northerners formed the Republican Party in reaction to the Kansas-Nebraska Act
Mani goal - STOP THE SPREAD OF SLAVERY -
Issue was Popular Sovereignty
Pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces rushed settlers to Kansas to stuff ballot boxes
Fighting broke out: homes and stores were burned, and people were killed, thus the term "Bleeding Kansas"
Among the fighters were abolitionist John Brown
Kansas entered the Union as a free state -
1857-1861
Democrat
Vice-President is John Breckenridge -
Dred Scitt was a slave in Missouri, owned by his master Sandford
Moved with his master to Wisconsin territory (which is a free territory), later returned to Missouri and the owner died
Scott sued for his freedom claiming that because his master had died and he had lived in a free territory, he was a free man. -
Supreme Court Decision by Justice Taney
Scott was not a citizen and could not sue or be sued in the federal court
No persons of African blood had the rights of citizenship under the Constitution (slaves are considered property)
Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional because it violated the 5th amendment (right to own property)
Congress did not have the power to outlaw slavery in a territory -
John Brown was a radical abolitionist and had ideas of starting a slave rebellion
Brown and his "army" planned to attack the US arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia with the intention of arming a slave uprising
Brown was stopped and captured by Robert E Lee.
Brown was tried for murder & treason and was found guilty and hanged
Northerners praised him & called him a "crucified hero"
Southerners were stunned and horrified by the Northern approval -
South Carolina warned that if Lincoln was elected president it would secede from the Union (were the 1st to do so)
Southerners believed Lincoln would free the slaves
Claimed “State’s Rights” -
Northern View - 1) Slavery is immoral and should not be allowed to expand; 2) Secession is illegal; 3) The Union must be preserved; we will fight to keep it together.
Southern View - 1) Slavery is moral and should be allowed to expand; 2) A state enters the union by its own free will and may secede if it so chooses; 3) The South’s way of life must be preserved; we will secede if our we lose rights -
President: Jefferson Davis
VP: Alexander Stephens
Reasons for fighting:
Keep slavery
Protect homeland
Defend system that gave them social advantages over blacks (way of life)
South Carolina was the first to secede, on December 20, 1860, followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. On February 8, 1861, representatives of those states announced the formation of the Confederate States of America, with its capital at Montgomery, Alabama. -
1861-1865
Republican (1st Republican President)
VP: Hannibal Hamlin, Andrew Johnson
Not an abolitionist, but Southerners viewed his election as:
The end of respect for their rights
The end of slavery -
April 12, 1861
First shots fired at Fort Sumter, South Carolina
Nobody was killed on either side
Civil War begins
