The Nation Breaking Apart 457

ONE EUROPEAN’S STORYDuring the 1830s, a French government official

named Alexis de Tocqueville [TOHK•vihl] traveled

down the Ohio River. The river was the border

between Ohio, a free state, and Kentucky, a slave

state. Tocqueville noted what he saw on both sides

of the river.

A VOICE FROM THE PAST

The State of Ohio is separated from Kentucky just byone river; on either side of it the soil is equally fertile,and the situation equally favourable, and yeteverything is different. Here [on the Ohio side] apopulation devoured by feverish activity, trying everymeans to make its fortune. . . . There [on theKentucky side] are people who make others work for them and show littlecompassion, a people without energy, mettle or the spirit of enterprise. . . .These differences cannot be attributed to any other cause but slavery.

Alexis de Tocqueville, Journey to America

In this section, you will read about the differences between the North

and the South.

North and South Take Different PathsAs you read in Chapter 11, the economies of the North and the Southdeveloped differently in the early 1800s. Although both economies weremostly agricultural, the North began to develop more industry and com-merce. By contrast, the Southern economy relied on plantation farming.

The growth of industry in the North helped lead to the rapid growthof Northern cities. Much of this population growth came from immigra-tion. In addition, immigrants and Easterners moved west and built farmsin the new states formed from the Northwest Territory. Most canals andrailroads ran east and west, helping the Eastern and Midwestern statesdevelop strong ties with each other.

Growing Tensions Between North and South

MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES

11

SECESSION

Disagreements between the North

and the South, especially over the

issue of slavery, led to political conflict.

Regional differences can make

national problems difficult to

resolve.

Wilmot Proviso

Free-Soil Party

Henry Clay

Daniel Webster

Stephen A. Douglas

Compromise of 1850

Taking Notes

Use your chart to takenotes about theWilmot Proviso and theCompromise of 1850.

Alexis deTocqueville

CALIFORNIA STANDARDS

8.7.1 Describe the development of theagrarian economy in the South, iden-tify the locations of the cotton-produc-ing states, and discuss the significanceof cotton and the cotton gin.

8.7.2 Trace the origins and develop-ment of slavery; its effects on blackAmericans and on the region's politi-cal, social, religious, economic, andcultural development; and identify thestrategies that were tried to bothoverturn and preserve it (e.g., throughthe writings and historical documentson Nat Turner, Denmark Vesey).

8.9.4 Discuss the importance of theslavery issue as raised by the annexa-tion of Texas and California's admis-sion to the union as a free state underthe Compromise of 1850.

8.9.6 Describe the lives of free blacksand the laws that limited their free-dom and economic opportunities.

8.10.1 Compare the conflicting inter-pretations of state and federal author-ity as emphasized in the speeches andwritings of statesmen such as DanielWebster and John C. Calhoun.

8.10.2 Trace the boundaries constitut-ing the North and the South, the geo-graphical differences between thetwo regions, and the differencesbetween agrarians and industrialists.

458 CHAPTER 15

TradeTrade is based on a simple idea. If you have something someoneelse needs or wants, and that person has something you need orwant, you exchange, or trade, those two things. After the trade,you should both be better off than before.

The concept of trade works similarly for groups of people. Forexample, in the early 1800s, the South had few factories. Planterswho wanted manufactured goods usually had to buy them frommanufacturers in the North or in Europe. To have the cash to buythose goods, Southerners sold other goods, such as cotton, to theNorth and other countries. Each sold the goods they could producein order to get money to buy the goods they could not make.

The South developed differently than the North. A few wealthyplanters controlled Southern society. They made great profits from thelabor of their slaves. Much of this profit came from trade. Planters reliedon exports, especially cotton. Because these plantations were so prof-itable, planters invested in slaves instead of industry. As a result, theSouth developed little industry.

Most Southern whites were poor farmers who owned no slaves. Buteven many of the nonslaveholding whites supported slavery because itkept them off the bottom of society.

Antislavery and RacismThe issue of slavery caused tension between the North and the South. Inthe North, the antislavery movement had slowly been gaining strengthsince the 1830s. Abolitionists believed that slavery was unjust and shouldbe abolished immediately. Many Northerners who opposed slavery tooka less extreme position. Some Northern workers and immigrantsopposed slavery because it was an economic threat to them. Becauseslaves did not work for pay, free workers feared that managers wouldemploy slaves rather than them. Some workers were even afraid that theexpansion of slavery might force workers into slavery to find jobs.

Despite their opposition to slavery, most Northerners, even abolition-ists, were racist by modern standards. Many whites refused to go to

CONNECT TO HISTORY1. Solving Problems What

problem does trade help acountry solve? How else could a country solve this problem?

See Skillbuilder Handbook, page R18.

CONNECT TO TODAY2. Comparing What goods

do Americans sell to othercountries today? What goods do Americans buy from othercountries?

For more about trade . . .

RESEARCH LINKSCLASSZONE .COM

Southern States

A. MakingGeneralizationsHow did theeconomies of theNorth and theSouth differ?A. Answer TheNorth was moreindustrial. TheSouth was moreagricultural andused slave labor.

Northern States andOther Countries

school with, work with, or live near African Americans. In most states,even free African Americans could not vote.

When Northern attacks on slavery increased, slaveholders defendedslavery. Most offered the openly racist argument that white people weresuperior to blacks. Many also claimed that slavery helped slaves by intro-ducing them to Christianity, as well as providing them with food, cloth-ing, and shelter throughout their lives. Slaveholders were determined todefend slavery and their way of life. In this way, the different ideas aboutslavery brought the North and the South into conflict.

The Wilmot ProvisoAfter the Missouri Compromise in 1820, political disagree-ments over slavery seemed to go away. But new disagree-ments arose with the outbreak of the War with Mexico in1846. Many Northerners believed that Southerners wantedto take territory from Mexico in order to extend slavery. Toprevent that, Representative David Wilmot of Pennsylvaniaproposed a bill, known as the Wilmot Proviso, to outlawslavery in any territory the United States might acquirefrom the War with Mexico.

But slaveholders believed that Congress had no rightto prevent them from bringing slaves into any of the territories. They viewed slaves as property. TheConstitution, they claimed, gave equal protection to theproperty rights of all U.S. citizens. The Wilmot Provisoremoved the right of slaveholders to take their slaves,which they regarded as property, anywhere in theUnited States or its territories. Southerners claimed thatthe bill was unconstitutional.

The Wilmot Proviso divided Congress along regionallines. The bill passed the House of Representatives. ButSoutherners prevented it from passing the Senate.

Even though the Wilmot Proviso never became law,it had important effects. It led to the creation of theFree-Soil Party, a political party dedicated to stoppingthe expansion of slavery. The party’s slogan expressed itsideals—“Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, and Free Men.” The Free-Soil Party won more than ten seats in Congress in the election of 1848.More important, the party made slavery a key issue in national politics.Politicians could ignore slavery no longer.

Controversy over TerritoriesBy 1848, the nation’s leaders had begun to debate how to deal with slav-ery in the lands gained from the War with Mexico. The proposed addi-tion of new states threatened the balance in Congress between North andSouth. The discovery of gold in California brought thousands of peopleinto that territory. There would soon be enough people in California for

The Nation Breaking Apart 459

EXPANDING SLAVERY

While the Wilmot Proviso upsetslavery defenders, the OstendManifesto of 1854 angered anti-slavery forces. On the instruction ofSecretary of State William Marcy,ambassadors to England, France,and Spain met in Ostend, Belgiumto discuss plans to purchase Cubafrom Spain. This purchase wouldincrease the slave territory in theUnited States, and would reducethe risk of a Cuban slave revoltsimilar to the one in Haiti.

The diplomats wrote a docu-ment which offered to buy Cuba,but also warned that the UnitedStates would take the island byforce if negotiations failed. TheOstend Manifesto became a politi-cal disaster for President FranklinPierce’s adminis-tration, andwidened thedivide over slavery.

B. RecognizingEffects Whatwere the effectsof the WilmotProviso?B. PossibleResponse Itdivided Congressalong regionallines and led tothe formation ofthe Free-SoilParty.

Vocabularyracist: havingprejudice basedon race

it to apply for statehood. Most California residents wanted their state tobe a free state. But this would tip the balance of power clearly in favor ofthe North. Southerners wanted to divide California in half, making thenorthern half a free state and the southern half a slave state.

In 1849, President Zachary Taylor—who opposed the extension ofslavery—proposed that California submit a plan for statehood that year,without going through the territorial stage. Taylor’s plan gave Southernslaveholders little time to move to California with their slaves.

In March 1850, California applied to be admitted as a free state. WithCalifornia as a free state, slave states would become a minority in theSenate just as they were in the House. Jefferson Davis, a senator fromMississippi, warned, “For the first time, we are about permanently todestroy the balance of power between the sections.”

The Compromise of 1850California could not gain statehood, however, without the approval ofCongress. And Congress was divided over the issue. Behind the scenes,statesmen sought compromise. Taking the lead was Senator Henry Clay

BackgroundU.S. land gainsfrom the Warwith Mexicoincluded all orparts of thefuture states of California,Nevada, Utah,Arizona, NewMexico, andColorado.

460

Daniel Websterspoke eloquentlyin favor of thecompromise.

Henry Clay led theCongress in creatingcompromises on severalimportant issues duringhis long career.

John C. Calhoun of SouthCarolina opposed theCompromise of 1850. Hebelieved the South hadno reason to compromiseon the issue of slavery.

This engraving dramaticallyportrays the Senate debateover the Compromise of 1850.

of Kentucky. Clay had helped create the MissouriCompromise in 1820. Now Clay crafted a plan to settlethe California problem.

1. To please the North, California would be admit-ted as a free state, and the slave trade would beabolished in Washington, D.C.

2. To please the South, Congress would not pass lawsregarding slavery for the rest of the territories wonfrom Mexico, and Congress would pass a strongerlaw to help slaveholders recapture runaway slaves.

Many people on both sides felt they had to give uptoo much in this plan. But others were tired of theregional bickering. They wanted to hold the Uniontogether. Daniel Webster, senator from Massachusetts,supported the compromise for the sake of the Union.

A VOICE FROM THE PAST

I wish to speak today, not as a Massachusetts man, nor as aNorthern man, but as an American. . . . I speak today for thepreservation of the Union. Hear me for my cause.

Daniel Webster, quoted in The Annals of America

The job of winning passage of the plan fell to SenatorStephen A. Douglas of Illinois. By the end ofSeptember, Douglas succeeded, and the plan, nowknown as the Compromise of 1850, became law.

Some people celebrated the compromise, believingthat it had saved the Union. But the compromise wouldnot bring peace. In the next section, you will learn howsectional tensions continued to rise.

The Nation Breaking Apart 461

2. Using GraphicsUse a chart like the onebelow to explain the effectsof each cause.

Which issue do you thinkmost threatened nationalunity? (HI2)

3. Main Ideasa. What were two ways thatthe North and the South dif-fered by the mid-1800s? (HI1)

b. In what ways was racismcommon in both the Northand the South? (HI1)

c. How did the War withMexico lead to conflictbetween the North and the South? (HI1)

4. Critical ThinkingComparing andContrasting How was theCompromise of 1850 similarto and different from theMissouri Compromise? (CST1)

THINK ABOUT• the regional tensions at

the time the compromiseswere proposed

• who proposed each bill• the provisions of the bills

1. Terms & NamesExplain the

significance of:• Wilmot Proviso• Free-Soil Party• Henry Clay• Daniel Webster• Stephen A. Douglas• Compromise of 1850

Section Assessment

ACTIVITY OPTIONS

TECHNOLOGYSPEECH

Imagine you are a television news director. Plan a five-minute documentary ororganize a panel discussion on the Compromise of 1850. (HI1)

1

STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS

1813–1861

Stephen A. Douglas was one ofthe most powerful members ofCongress in the mid-1800s. In fact,he was called the “Little Giant”because he commanded greatrespect even though he was onlyfive feet four inches tall.

Perhaps the most importantissue that Douglas faced duringhis career was the expansion ofslavery into the territories.Douglas privately hated slavery.But he did not believe a debateon morality would do any good.He suggested that the people ofeach territory should decidewhether or not to allow slavery.

What groups of Americansagreed with Douglas’sposition on slavery?

CausesAbolitionism

Wilmot Proviso

California’s applicationfor statehood

Effects

C. Reading a MapLook at the mapon page 464 tosee how theCompromise of1850 affected theterritories opento slavery.