Compromise in the Pre-Civil War Era APUSH DBQ

The compromise of 1850 was a settlement on a series of issues plaguing the unity of the states. The primary issue to address was the institution of slavery, which was causing much dissension between the north and the south. Additional items to be addressed were territory issues and to prevent secession by the south. Henry Clay stepped forward to present a compromise, which had Congress in an eight-month discussion known as the “Great Debate”. As a result of the proposal, there were strong oppositions. One outspoken person who opposed the proposal was John C Calhoun. Calhoun was an intellectual southern politician, political philosopher and a proponent to the protection of Southern interests. He was an advocate for states’ rights and

The context of this book is well-organized in completing it goals, first chapter called, “Pandora’s Box” written by the author, gives disputes over slavery in the late 1810’s and fights over the admission of Missouri as a slave state. Leading to three other chapters titled, “The Wilmot Proviso,” “The Compromise of 1850,” and “The Kansas-Nebraska Act.” Holt provides a strong historical narrative linking all its chapters together and presenting several contrasting arguments making his theories available to a larger audience. One being, The Wilmot Proviso of 1846 (Holt, p. 19), which made the pro slavery (no free soil), originated with Northern Democrats. Embarrassing James Polk (President) after he broke his promise to annex all the Oregon

During the period of 1820-1861 the north and south debated on issues that dealt with slavery and unbalance power, in order to reduce sectional tension between these two states, the Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act were proposed.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, in Document C, that “the United States will conquer Mexico, but it will be as the man swallows the arsenic.” This statement points out a key similarity between this war and the Civil War- both were tainted by slavery. The Mexican War would result in new slave states, making abolitionists angry, resulting in the conflicts that started the Civil War. Document D, written by David Wilmot of the Wilmot Proviso, reveals the tensions created by the Mexican cession, saying, “I ask not that slavery be abolished, I demand that this government preserve the integrity of free territory against the aggressions of slavery-against its wrongful usurpations.” Up until that point, there were an equal number of slave and free states. How would the balance be maintained? Wilmot suggested that slavery remain only in the current slave states and not spread to any new territories. However, his plan was rejected, showing that neither side would compromise, but, instead, that the Union would break apart. Therefore, the Compromise of 1850 was passed as a way to appease the north and the south. Document E shows the distinct separation of slave and free states resultant of this compromise. This reveals a major breakup of the Union over slavery. Document F points out the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, created by Stephen Douglas, which divided the newly gained Nebraska Territory into two states, Kansas and Nebraska, and

The first half of the nineteenth century in the United States of America was a time of tremendous change for the nation. Firstly, change began as Thomas Jefferson was elected president, which meant the beginning of the Democratic-Republicans reign in office. But this development of the modern United States led not to a unified nation, yet it led to one divided. The expansion and development of ideas and land exposed great regional differences in the United States between 1800 and 1848. Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase had not only provided the country with land to farm, but it had doubled the size of the United States. Decisions over what to do with the new land separated the country. This is clearly seen in disputes concerning the United States’

As time passed the rapidly changing society in the nineteenth century, in 1820 the north and south began to have serious conflicting problems that were proved unfixable by compromise. During this time, the north underwent major social, economic, and industrial changes known as the Antebellum Period. While the south generally clung to king cotton and slavery and thus remained essentially the same. This arose a manifold of controversies with how issues such as tariffs, slavery, and land should be handled. Both the Union and the Confederacy tried to create compromises to resolve these problems, yet both sides were never completely satisfied no matter how hard they tried. This made it very close to impossible for them to completely put their

Since the constitution was built on the idea of freedom and individual liberty, the expansion with slave states brought up debate. It wasn't necessarily the slavery itself “it was the question of that institution’s expansion, to the newly acquired territories which were continually added to the ever-growing republic”. During the expansion, there were attempts in policies to try to limit the expansion of slavery as it caused so much instability, e.g. the Wilmot Proviso (1846) even when it wasn’t passed by the Senate. The cartoon named ‘Whig Harmony’, shows the division between the Whig ranks and indicates how important the validity of the proviso was in the 1846 campaign. John O'Sullivan stated in 1839 on the Manifest Destiny “we are the nation of progress, of individual freedom, of universal

Americans in the early nineteenth century had been, or atleast seemed to be very desent at solving their political problems with compromise. Compromise had been less and less effective at settling these politcal disputes the closer to 1900 it became. It seemed to be revativly impossible by 1860. This impossibity arouse from the North and the South adpoting impervious opinions about politics and slavery that heavily opposed each other. Senator Henry Clay, the "Father of Compromise" clearly stated and believed that it was "utterly impractical" that South Carolina ever wated to suceceed from the United States(Document A).

In the years leading up to the Civil War, the compromise of 1850 helped to delay the fight between brothers by having both sides concede important ideals. The compromise of 1850 is logical, because it gave each state a vote in whether or not they could once again get along. This concession allowed for both sides to air out their grievances, and allow for improvement. Both sides were primarily focused on regionalism and cared only for their area and beliefs. One such example is slavery.

Mounting tensions between northerners and southerners over newly acquired territories in the west were very alarming to politicians in 1850. The core of this debate was the question of whether or not frontier territories should join the Union as new slave states. The North wanted to keep the slavery out of the new territories while the south wanted slavery to be instilled in the newly acquired states. A couple of compromises were tried to ease the tensions between the North and the south like the Wilmo provoso

The Republican party’s main objective was to stop slavery from spreading into the western territories, but the Anti-Slavery Society was much more strict, declaring that, “...[T]he slaves ought instantly to be set free…”(Document C). This made the South feel alienated from the North, and the Federal Government worked quickly to try and fix this, creating the Compromise of 1850. The Compromise of 1850 was made of five bills, but one specifically outraged the North: the Fugitive Slave Acts of 1850, which allowed government officials to detain and person convicted of being a runaway slave, even if they had lived with their friends for years and were clearly not runaway slaves. Many Northerners created bands against the laws and actively worked to disobey the Slave Acts, which made the South infuriated since the North had agreed to the Compromise. At this point, people began creating ideas about secession, as Senator Daniel Webster said in his speech to Congress in March, 1850: “I hear with pain and anguish the word ‘secession,’ especially when it falls from the lips of those who are… patriotic”(Document C). After these years, the election of 1860 was just around the corner, and this election would show just how divided the cultures of America

“’One section of our country believes slavery is right, and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong, and ought to be restricted. That,’ he said with a touch of irony, ‘is the only substantial dispute’” (Oakes 140). People bickered whether or not Lincoln was doing the right thing by signing the Emancipation

In efforts to better understand the Civil War most historians examine the Sectional Crisis and the Compromise of 1850 in the decades leading up to the worst years in American History. Some historians prefer to focus on the underlying theme of the war, others tightly examine individual leaders, events, and political parties, connecting them all together like puzzle pieces to define the years prior to the war. Despite the contrasting views, it is clear to realize the constant prevailing issues of the Antebellum Period, the Sectional Crisis and the Compromise of 1850. In particular, the Compromise of 1850 is deceivingly taught as only establishing 3 pivotal elements: the status of slavery in future territories (popular sovereignty), California statehood, and the fugitive slave law. Granted these elements of the compromise provide a great amount of controversy long after their birth, but one element of the compromise perceives to fail in obtaining recognition. The Texas-New Mexico boundary resolution seems to find itself fading away from its relevancy to the civil war, shadowed by more prominent issues regarding the stability of the Union. Abandoning the traditional teaching of the compromise, the Texas-New Mexico border decision figuratively and literally changed the identity of Texas. This was the long awaited result caused by deep rooted social and political issues dating back to the Texas Revolution.

"By the time Lincoln took the oath of office on March 4, 1861, he addressed a divided nation" (Ch. 5 pg. 164). The United States was going through hard times of dealing with slavery in the 1800’s. Slavery was the hot topic in politics of that time period just as the debate over abortion or gay marriage is today. The issue over slavery really grew in the early 1860’s; around the time President Abraham Lincoln took office. Lincoln became president and kept his own personal beliefs about slavery to himself. As his career as president progressed, he embraced the beliefs of Henry Clay and made it clear to everyone how he felt about slavery. The authors purpose to

On January 29th, 1850 Senator Henry Clay Set forth a series of Conflicts in an attempt to seek a compromise and to turn away from a crisis between the Union (North)and the Confederate(south) The United States had recently Received a large territory from the result of its war with Mexico.The question that was asked about the land was Should the territory sanctions slavery, or should it be declared free? Or maybe the incipient people should be sanctioned to optate for themselves? California a territory that had grown rapidly with the gold rush of 1849, had recently petitioned Congress to enter the Cumulation as a free state. Should this be sanctioned? Ever since the Missouri Compromise, the balance between slave states and free states had been maintained; any proposal that threatened this