Compromises Are a Temporary Solution

U.S. History

CompromisesCompromises areare aa Temporary Solution:Solution: PoliticalPolitical TensionsTensions BetweenBetween thethe NorthNorth && SouthSouth PartPart II Pre-Reading Activity:

The title of today’s reading is Compromises are a Temporary Solution. What do you think this means? ______

A deep political conflict between the North and South had been brewing since the days of the Constitutional Convention. At the center of this political turmoil was the issue of slavery. During the convention, the two regions disagreed over how to organize the legislative branch of our government. This conflict was resolved through the Great Compromise. The regions also disagreed over how to count the slave population for the purposes of taxation and representation in government. This conflict was also resolved through compromise (i.e. the 3/5 Compromise). In 1820, this political conflict took center stage once again when the balance of power between the North and South was threatened by Missouri’s request to become a slave state. Henry Clay proposed the Missouri Compromise which maintained the balance of power between slave and free states in the Senate. These compromises, however, were a temporary solution to a much greater problem.

Political Tension Reaches a Boiling Point

After the Missouri Compromise in 1820, political disagreements over slavery seemed to go away. But new disagreements arose with the outbreak of the Mexican- American War in 1846. Many Northerners believed that Southerners wanted to take the territory from Mexico in order to extend slavery. To prevent that, Representative David Wilmot of Pennsylvania proposed a bill known as the Wilmot Proviso. The Wilmot Proviso would outlaw slavery in any territory the United States gained through the War with Mexico. Southern slave holders were outraged by the proposal. They believed that Congress had no right to prevent them from bringing their slaves into any new territory. They argued, that legally speaking, slaves were considered to be private property and the Constitution guaranteed equal protection of property rights for all citizens. Southerners claimed that the Wilmot Proviso was unconstitutional. The bill passed in the House of Representatives, but was stopped in the Senate by Southerners. Even though the bill never became law, it still had an important impact on U.S. History. The debate over the Wilmot Proviso brought slavery into the national spotlight again and with greater intensity than it had been in years.

The California Problem

After the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the United States gained a significant amount of land in the southwest. The proposed addition of new states threatened the balance of power between the North and the South. The discovery of gold in California brought thousands of new people into the territory. It was not long before enough people moved to California to make it eligible to apply for statehood. Most of California’s residents wanted it to become a free state, but this would tip the balance of power clearly in favor of the North. Southerners wanted to divide California in half, making the northern half a free state and the southern half slave a slave state. In March 1850, California applied to be admitted as a free state. With California as a free state, the slave states would be in the minority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Jefferson Davis, a senator from Mississippi warned, “For the first time we are about to permanently destroy the balance of power between the sections.”

California could not gain statehood without the approval of Congress and Congress was deeply divided over the issue. Taking the lead was Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky (the primary author of the Missouri Compromise of 1820). Clay drafted a settlement that became known as the Compromise of 1850. He suggested the following to appease both the North and the South.

To please the North… To please the South…

California would be admitted as a free state Congress would not pass laws regarding and slave trade would be abolished in slavery in the rest of the territory acquired Washington, D.C. through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and Congress would pass a stronger law to help slaveholders recapture runaway slaves.

Many people on both sides felt they had to give up too much in this plan. Others were tired of the constant regional fighting; they wanted to hold the Union of states together. After continued debate, the Compromise of 1850 was adopted in late September. Many rejoiced believing that they had saved the Union, but others believed that the compromise, like those before it, would fail to bring lasting peace.

Name: U.S. History Date: Core:

PoliticalPolitical TensionsTensions BetweenBetween thethe NorthNorth && SouthSouth (Part(Part I)I) ReflectionReflection Questions…Questions…

Directions: Use the Compromises are a Temporary Solution: Political Tensions of the North and South Part I handout to answer the following questions.

Fact Check….

1. Briefly describe 3 conflicts that took place between the North and the South between 1776 and 1820. a. ______b. ______c. ______

2. What was the Wilmot Proviso? ______

3. Briefly explain how the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo increased the political tension between the North and the South. ______4. Explain how Henry Clay tried to appease both the North and the South through the Compromise of 1850.

To Appease the North… To Appease the South