Brittney Weber

CALIFORNIA‟S

INTRIGUING YEARS OF

THE 1850‟S

“The Fight for Slavery in California”

By: James M. McPherson

The admission of California of f -

balanced free and slave states

Threats of the south separating

from the Union star ted once the

decision of whether California

would be a free state or not

Although the south used the

argument that the balance in

power would be shif ted in favor of

the nor th, the Chivalry dominated

the Democratic Par ty

Compromise of 1850- California

would be admitted as a free state

in return for New Mexico and Utah

no restrict ions on slavery and

stricter laws for returning

escaped slaves into free states

NORTH VS. SOUTH

Proposal of splitting state up into 2 portions

Southern part would be slave friendly Would be used for growing cotton, rice, and sugar

Northern part would be north territory with no slaves gold mining

Won a the two thirds vote needed in the affected counties but was ended once it reached Congress

DIVIDING CALIFORNIA

North

South

Invading Cuba

In hopes to balance the slave/free states, Polk administration opted for adding Cuba

Would have added 400,000 slaves to the U.S.

Twice: 1850-1851 1st time Spanish soldiers drove

them away

2nd time 200 invaders were killed and the rest captured and suffocated Narciso Lopez in Havana and American prisoners killed

Admission of other states

1858 and 1859 Minnesota

and Oregon admitted as

free states

Kansas was a free state

after the south lost their

campaign for slavery

ROAD TO DISUNION

Freed Labor

The New York Times states, “freed labor is more „efficient‟ than slave labor”

Emancipated slaves worked better under Northern employers than they did in the south

With the north gaining workforce, the article predicted the economy will acquire most or at least some of what the south did when they had slave labor

“Veins of Wealth”

Because the north gained cultivated land from the south, the belief was that the fortunes from their crops would help eliminate the national debt from the war

The mines in California were thought to be around for at least 20 years and add to the wealth of the economy

“THE LOSSES OF WAR: HOW THEY ARE TO

BE REPLACED”

Although the article touched on a

few incidents that were partly true,

for the most part, the article‟s

predictions were off.

The gold mines in California may

have helped the economy for a

short time, but definitely not

directly for 20 years.

PR

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