ABOLITION AND THE DEBATE OVER SLAVERY
Americans opposed to slavery began to organize in the 1830s to promote abolition, or the complete end to slavery
Some called for emancipation, or immediate freedom for all slaves
WHO WERE THE ABOLITIONISTS? Religious- Quakers Americans who believed slavery
contradicted the American value of equality
DIFFERENCES AMONGST ABOLITIONISTS What rights should they have once
they’re free? Fear of conflict between different races American Colonization Society:
Founded Liberia on west coast of Africa- 12,000 African Americans settled there
SPREADING THE MESSAGE Speaking tours Newspapers: William L Garrison’s The
Liberator American Anti-Slavery Society: 1833
wanted immediate emancipation and racial equality for African Americans, Garrison was President
Split in 1840
WOMEN IN ABOLITION Grimke sisters: Angelina and Sarah,
their parents were southern slaveholders, they moved to Philadelphia and tried to garner support from other southern women
AFRICAN AMERICANS IN ABOLITION
Frederick Douglass: escaped slavery at 20, taught himself to read and write, great public speaker, published abolitionist newspaper, North Star
Sojourner Truth: gave dramatic speeches Harriet Jacobs: Incidents in the Life of a
Slave Girl
OPPOSITION TO ABOLITION Fear that free slaves would take northerners jobs House of Representatives refused to discuss
thousands of antislavery petitions, though this was a violation of the 1st amendment
Southerners believed slavery was vital to the economy Some whites argued slavery actually protected African Americans- They would “freeze or starve” in the North
THE DEBATE OVER SLAVERY Think back to the Mexican War- we
gained 500,000 sq. miles. What’s the issue?
Missouri Compromise only applied to the Louisiana Purchase. What about the Mexican Cession?
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS Extend 36 30’ line to Pacific No slavery in territory whatsoever-
Wilmot Proviso- This revealed growing sectionalism, when people favor the interests of one region over the country as a whole
Voters in a territory decide whether to ban or allow slavery- Popular Sovereignty
ELECTION OF 1848 Neither Democrats (Lewis Cass) or Whigs (Zachary
Taylor) took clear position on slavery in the west Free-Soil Party supported Wilmot Proviso (no slavery in
territory), Chose Martin Van Buren Whigs won election- Zachary Taylor became President
(*remember when Polk fired him because he was gaining too much popularity in the Mexican War?)
CALIFORNIA Gold rush created population boom CA applied for admission into union Wanted to be a free state This would offset the balance of power
in the senate
COMPROMISE OF 1850 Henry Clay- our “Great Pacificator” pacifies
again 5 part plan:
1. CA enters as free state2. In rest of Mexican Cession, status decided by popular sovereignty3. Solved border dispute between Texas and New Mexico4. End to slave trade in capital5. More effective Fugitive Slave Law
REACTIONS TO COMPROMISE OF 1850
John C. Calhoun: allowing CA admission as a free state would offset balance in the Senate and southern states would have to secede
Daniel Webster: though he was personally opposed to slavery, he wanted to preserve the union and disapproved of any sectionalism
FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT Part of the Compromise of
1850 It became a federal crime to
help runaway slaves Officials could arrest
runaways in areas where slavery was illegal
Slaveholders could take suspected fugitive slaves before commissioners and prove they were the owner through documents or witnesses
UNCLE TOM’S CABIN Anti-slavery novel written by abolitionist Harriet
Beecher Stowe in response to the Fugitive Slave Act Helped fuel the abolitionist cause 2nd best-selling book of 19th century, after the Bible
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