US History 5.4-5.5

Ostend Manifesto

polk offered to buy cuba from Spain from 100 mill

Cuba drama

Spain said no to Polk still S went into Cuba by force but they only to be taken out by force then US diplomats tried to buy Cuba in secret BUT when news leaked ppl got mad & the scheme had to be dropped

Clayton-Bulwer Treaty 1850

between US & GB promising that neither would try to take exclusive control of any future canal route in central America

Gadsden Purchase 1853

Under Pierce purchase of a small strip of land from Mexico US wants the land bc it would be the best route for a railroad through the region

Wilmot Proviso 1846

an amendment that would ban slavery to any land gained in the MA War. passed in the house defeated in the Senate. N support

Polk Stance On slavery in Cessecion

supported the extension of the Missouri compromise line from coast to coast to new territories (N=no S=yes)

Popular sovereignty

Lewis Cass proposed to let the ppl of the land choose weather they had slavery or not

Free soil Movement

Northerners who tried keep the West a land of opportunity for WHITES ONLY (keeping enslaved & AA out) + advocated for free public land grants to small farmers+internal improvement (roads & harbor)

Election of 1848

issue-slavery whig War hero Zachary Taylor who never been in politics or took a position on slavery in the land

Effects of Gold Rush

brought many ppl to stay →a form of gov →going into the Union →slavery issue

Henry Clays Compromise

1) admit Cali as a free state 

2)Divided lands in 2: Utah & New Mexico giving them popular sovereignty 

3) give land to T & NM land in new territories in return for fed gov paying 10 mill of T debt

 4) Ban slave trade in District of Columbia BUT permit white to enslaved ppl as before 

5) heavily enforced fugitive slave law

Compromise of 1850

all aspects of clays comp passed in separate votes. Brought time for the union

Irish Immigrants

unskilled workers usually poor stayed in E cities, were discriminated against bc they were Roman Catholic

German Immigrants

Often catholic, arrived with some $ & skills moved NW becoming farmers & business men

Nativism 1840s

hostility to immigrants : formed secret antiforeign society later came to be known as the Know Nothing party:

Know Nothing Party 1850s

Tried to limit immigrants political & cultural influence Laws raising wait time for naturalization + only Native born citizens can hold office + literacy test for voting

Panic of 1857

dec in price for Mid Western agriculture products + inc in unemployment in N. S was less affected so they believed that their economy was superior

Fugitive Slave Law

everyone had to legally turn in a fugitive and anyone who hid a fugitive would face legal penalties. Black & White activist resisted law

The Underground Railroad

loose network of activist who helped slaves escape to N or Canada

Harriet Tubman

escaped herself BUT made trips to S in order to help others escape 

John C. Calhoun 1837

stated slavery was a positive good bc slaves enjoyed better conditions that industrial workers in the

Southern defence for slavery

1. S economy rooted in slavery was the key to prosperity of the nation 

2. biological white superiority

3. believed slavery & state rights supported under the constitution

Harriet Beecher Stowe Uncle Tom’s Cabin 1852

antislavery saying owner & slave relation was inhumane. S called it lies, banned the book and attacked the N calling ppl wage slaves

impending crisis of the south

anti-slavery book arguing slavery was economically harmful to the S + posed a threat to the social structure