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UNIT 10: Divided Nation
UNIT 10: Divided Nation
Lesson: The Compromise of 1850
Lesson: The Compromise of 1850
8.56 Explain the reasons for and the impact of the Compromise of 1850 (including Henry Clay’s role as “The Great Compromiser”).
8.56 Explain the reasons for and the impact of the Compromise of 1850 (including Henry Clay’s role as “The Great Compromiser”).
Zachary Taylor becomes the 12th President
Zachary Taylor becomes the 12th President
PRESIDENT ZACHARY TAYLOR DIES IN OFFICE
PRESIDENT ZACHARY TAYLOR DIES IN OFFICE
Zachary Taylor won the Election of 1848, taking over after Polk left and returned to Tennessee. Taylor was only the second Whig to be elected President, but third overall. Taylor was a war hero. When he was young, he had fought in the War of 1812 and he was a General in the Mexican War.
He was in the second year of presidency when he died on July 9, 1850. His Vice President, Millard Fillmore became the new President.
MILLARD FILLMORE BECOMES THE 13TH PRESIDENT
MILLARD FILLMORE BECOMES THE 13TH PRESIDENT
In 1850, Millard Fillmore took over as President.
The compromise of 1850
The compromise of 1850
In 1849 and 1850, the long simmering argument over slavery in the United States threatened to come to a boil. The debate was over what to do with the territories that had been won in the Mexican War. The California Territory wanted to become a state, but a free one. This would’ve upset the balance between free and slave states, which had been carefully maintained since the Missouri Compromise of 1820. To prevent a crisis between North and South, politicians scrambled to come up with a deal that would ease tensions.
THE GREAT COMPROMISER RETURNS!
THE GREAT COMPROMISER RETURNS!
For more than four decades, Kentucky Senator Henry Clay was one of the leading political figures in the United States. Clay's main mission was to preserve the union and avoid a Civil War. He had played a major role in crafting the Missouri Compromise of 1820, and he stepped in to find a way out of the dispute.
Clay devised a grand compromise. He proposed a bill that he hoped would put the issue of slavery to rest. The bill would deal with the issue of slavery in the territories of California, Utah, and New Mexico. It would also address disagreements surrounding the Texas New Mexico border, the slave trade in Washington DC, and what to do about fugitive slaves. Clay believed in this bill because he thought it had something in it for everyone. According to Clay, the bill was no Southern or Northern. It was equal, it was fair, it was a compromise!
US Senator from Kentucky, Henry Clay
WHO GETS WHAT IN THE COMPROMISE OF 1850?
WHO GETS WHAT IN THE COMPROMISE OF 1850?
In the Compromise of 1850, the north and south both gained some things they wanted and lost others. California was allowed to join the union as a free state, but the territories of Utah and New Mexico would be able to choose whether they wanted slavery by popular sovereignty. Texas lost its land claim to New Mexico, but received $10 million in compensation. Slavery was allowed to continue in Washington D.C. but the slave trade itself was abolished there. And last, the Fugitive Slave Act was passed, demanding that runaway slaves be returned to the south and anyone who tried to help them escape be punished.
While not everyone was pleased with these bills, Clay's great compromise succeeded in keeping the north and south together, for at least a little while longer.
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