Unit 3
The Compromise of 1850
the last act of Congress by Henry Clay was seen as a vital compromise to keep the peace between the North and South
Southern Wins
Utah and New Mexico Territory decide if slavery is allowed by popular sovereignty once they become states, but the vote is never carried out as population growth is slow because the land is not fertile
takes the question out of the hands of Congress, where there had been a heated debate
The Fugitive Slave Act - it becomes a federal crime for anybody to help a fugitive slave and not help return them to their owner because of the constitutional obligation by each state to respect each other’s property
the North had never really put in the effort to respect the constitutional obligation beforehand, as most Northerners were anti-slavery (to varying degrees)
it nationalizes slavery because the federal government forces the Northerners to help Southerners capture their slaves, and the Northerners are forced to accept slavery even in states where it is illegal
it also terrifies all free African-Americans, escaped slaves because they could be brought back to their old owners, and freed slaves because they could be mistaken for fugitive slaves and enslaved to someone they don’t know
Northern Wins
California becomes a free state because it’s over the 36o 30 line and Gold Rush Economics
Gold Rush Economics - people didn’t want slavery in California because they wanted white people to get paid to work on fertile land
?California became a state so easily because of the `49 Gold Rush, which caused a large migration of Americans to the new territory of California from the Méxican-American War
The slave trade is banned in Washington, DC because Congress has the authority to govern DC as it’s a federal territory
the slave trade was popular and made the country look bad in front of foreign diplomats
Garrisonism and Abolition
Abolitionists - a small but vocal majority in the North who were completely against slavery and consistently advocated for a nationwide ban
William Lloyd Garrison - from Boston, a mentor to Fredrick Douglas, and a radical abolitionist who declared the Declaration of Independence was not carried out by the Constitution because the Declaration of Independence declared all people equal and the Constitution was, in his eyes, pro-slavery
is known for publically burning a copy of the Constitution because of the 3/5ths Compromise and the Fugitive Clause
The Liberator - first published in 1831 by Garrison, an anti-slavery magazine
Garrisonism - the belief that interacting at all with slave-holders is being complicit with slavery, so followers would not vote or hold public office
believes that the Declaration of Independence was being trampled on and that its ideas would crumble and weaken the union
accepting of disunion because they can’t support the sin of slavery, so they’re for South Carolina seceding during the Nullification Crises
absolutely no compromising with slaveholders because then you become a part of the problem
Fredrick Douglas - an escaped slave and radical abolitionist and prolific orator whose most known speech is What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?
Uncle Tom’s Cabin - a best-selling novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, who, after gathering stories from former slaves, wrote a fictional story about slavery
gave slaves a voice in the fight against slavery because now they were not just slaves but as real as the people who owned them and who had to endure abuse and exploitation
the North saw it as shocking and the South tried to dismiss it as overdramatic, but the book was a big contributor to the civil war
Apple of Gold and Frame of Silver
an allegory for the two founding documents of the United States
the Declaration of Independence - the apple because it’s about ideals for an American union; equality, natural rights, liberty, and the consent of the governed
the Constitution - the silver frame because it’s the means to go about preserving and achieving the ideals of an American union with the branches of government, separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, and popular sovereignty
What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?
“The Ringbolt for America’s Future” - Douglas calls the Declaration of Independence the ringbolt of the chain of America, without it America would be lost, and it’s a reference to slavery
Douglas delivers the Fourth of July speech in Upstate New York but intends for the entire nation to hear what he is saying, especially Northern government officials so they would do more for the cause of slavery
Douglas says that if slaves weren’t human, there would be no slaves because they don’t make laws for cattle so they know slaves are human and therefore are guaranteed the rights in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution
they aren’t allowed to learn how to read or write because then they could hear about abolitionism and revolt against their owners
Internal vs. External Slave Trade
the foreign slave trade - was outlawed in 1808 by Thomas Jefferson because the Constitutional Convention decided to wait 20 years as part of the slavery compromise
the internal slave trade started growing when the foreign trade was outlawed and occurred between the upper South and the deep South because cotton was a rapidly growing cash crop
was seen as just as unethical as the foreign trade because it was still displacing people at a whim from their families, people, and places they knew to another place where they didn’t know anybody
it also hindered escape plans since it was harder to escape in the deep South, where no states bordered free states
Mason-Dixon Line - the border between Pennsylvania and Maryland, seen as the border between free states and slave states
The Compromise of 1850
the last act of Congress by Henry Clay was seen as a vital compromise to keep the peace between the North and South
Southern Wins
Utah and New Mexico Territory decide if slavery is allowed by popular sovereignty once they become states, but the vote is never carried out as population growth is slow because the land is not fertile
takes the question out of the hands of Congress, where there had been a heated debate
The Fugitive Slave Act - it becomes a federal crime for anybody to help a fugitive slave and not help return them to their owner because of the constitutional obligation by each state to respect each other’s property
the North had never really put in the effort to respect the constitutional obligation beforehand, as most Northerners were anti-slavery (to varying degrees)
it nationalizes slavery because the federal government forces the Northerners to help Southerners capture their slaves, and the Northerners are forced to accept slavery even in states where it is illegal
it also terrifies all free African-Americans, escaped slaves because they could be brought back to their old owners, and freed slaves because they could be mistaken for fugitive slaves and enslaved to someone they don’t know
Northern Wins
California becomes a free state because it’s over the 36o 30 line and Gold Rush Economics
Gold Rush Economics - people didn’t want slavery in California because they wanted white people to get paid to work on fertile land
?California became a state so easily because of the `49 Gold Rush, which caused a large migration of Americans to the new territory of California from the Méxican-American War
The slave trade is banned in Washington, DC because Congress has the authority to govern DC as it’s a federal territory
the slave trade was popular and made the country look bad in front of foreign diplomats
Garrisonism and Abolition
Abolitionists - a small but vocal majority in the North who were completely against slavery and consistently advocated for a nationwide ban
William Lloyd Garrison - from Boston, a mentor to Fredrick Douglas, and a radical abolitionist who declared the Declaration of Independence was not carried out by the Constitution because the Declaration of Independence declared all people equal and the Constitution was, in his eyes, pro-slavery
is known for publically burning a copy of the Constitution because of the 3/5ths Compromise and the Fugitive Clause
The Liberator - first published in 1831 by Garrison, an anti-slavery magazine
Garrisonism - the belief that interacting at all with slave-holders is being complicit with slavery, so followers would not vote or hold public office
believes that the Declaration of Independence was being trampled on and that its ideas would crumble and weaken the union
accepting of disunion because they can’t support the sin of slavery, so they’re for South Carolina seceding during the Nullification Crises
absolutely no compromising with slaveholders because then you become a part of the problem
Fredrick Douglas - an escaped slave and radical abolitionist and prolific orator whose most known speech is What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?
Uncle Tom’s Cabin - a best-selling novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, who, after gathering stories from former slaves, wrote a fictional story about slavery
gave slaves a voice in the fight against slavery because now they were not just slaves but as real as the people who owned them and who had to endure abuse and exploitation
the North saw it as shocking and the South tried to dismiss it as overdramatic, but the book was a big contributor to the civil war
Apple of Gold and Frame of Silver
an allegory for the two founding documents of the United States
the Declaration of Independence - the apple because it’s about ideals for an American union; equality, natural rights, liberty, and the consent of the governed
the Constitution - the silver frame because it’s the means to go about preserving and achieving the ideals of an American union with the branches of government, separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, and popular sovereignty
What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?
“The Ringbolt for America’s Future” - Douglas calls the Declaration of Independence the ringbolt of the chain of America, without it America would be lost, and it’s a reference to slavery
Douglas delivers the Fourth of July speech in Upstate New York but intends for the entire nation to hear what he is saying, especially Northern government officials so they would do more for the cause of slavery
Douglas says that if slaves weren’t human, there would be no slaves because they don’t make laws for cattle so they know slaves are human and therefore are guaranteed the rights in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution
they aren’t allowed to learn how to read or write because then they could hear about abolitionism and revolt against their owners
Internal vs. External Slave Trade
the foreign slave trade - was outlawed in 1808 by Thomas Jefferson because the Constitutional Convention decided to wait 20 years as part of the slavery compromise
the internal slave trade started growing when the foreign trade was outlawed and occurred between the upper South and the deep South because cotton was a rapidly growing cash crop
was seen as just as unethical as the foreign trade because it was still displacing people at a whim from their families, people, and places they knew to another place where they didn’t know anybody
it also hindered escape plans since it was harder to escape in the deep South, where no states bordered free states
Mason-Dixon Line - the border between Pennsylvania and Maryland, seen as the border between free states and slave states
