Part II a divided nation

By the middle of the 19th century America grew much bigger. The country acquired many new territories. By 1850s the United States stretched over forest, plain and mountain, but adding new territories also brought problems. It raised the question of whether the new states would allow slavery. Leaders in the North felt it should not be allowed, while Southern leaders, on the other hand, supported the spread of slavery. Differences between the North and the South did not begin or end with slavery. The two areas had been growing apart for more than fifty years. The North and the South developed different social, economic and political ways.

During colonial times, they shared certain social patterns. Most of the people were of British heritage, or background. They shared the same language, customs, and law. They also had similar political views. There were differences even then, however. In general, planters dominated social life in the South, while in the North, no single group set the pattern of living. Education was more widespread in the North than in the South. In the years before 1860, the North changed more than the South, and the two areas became even less alike. The population of the North grew rapidly. Cities became important. Immigration brought a great variety of people to the northern states. The white population of the South grew slowly. Immigration into the South was also slow, and its impact was slight. The large number of black slaves in the South further set the two sections apart. The North and South also moved in different directions economically. In the early days of the United States, life in both parts of the country centered around farms and small villages. The South remained an agricultural area and did not develop much industry, the most important part of the southern economy was the large plantations. On them, tobacco, rice, sugar cane, and cotton were grown, using slave labor. Economic ideas changed slowly in the South. Southern leaders were generally against high taxes, government spending, and federal banks. They fought against raising import duties, as the South imported most of its manufactured goods and relied upon foreign manufacturers for both necessities and luxuries of many kinds.

In the North farms were smaller and farmers did not need slaves to work the land on them. After the War of 1812, the northern states rapidly began to build factories. Cities grew with the rise of industry. While most people in the North also made a living by farming, industry was very important. The building of factories required loans from banks. Northern leaders favored federal banks and government spending. They wanted government aid for building roads and making other transportation better. To protect the growing American industries, they favored higher duties on imported goods.

During the argument about import duties a southern politician named John C. Calhoun raised a much more serious question. He claimed that the state had the right to disobey any federal law if the state believed that the law would harm its interests. As the debate over slavery became bitter, many southern leaders came to favor the idea of states’ rights.

Northern leaders, on the other hand, supported the power of the federal government over that of the states. This view was stated in 1830 by Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, when he argued against Calhoun's theory of nullification. People in the North thought that the federal government helped promote national unity and progress.

At the heart of the differences between the North and South was slavery. Southern whites called it the "peculiar institution." The first blacks brought to America were not slaves but indentured servants. They expected to be free after they had finished their terms of service. Later the status of indentured black servants was changed by law to that of slaves. The demand for slaves in the United States grew rapidly after Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793. Many people protested against slavery, they were called “abolitionists”, as they wanted to abolish slavery by law. In 1808 abolitionists persuaded Congress to make it illegal for ships to bring any new slaves from Africa into the Unites States. That year, there were about 1 million slaves in the United States. Despite the action of Congress, the system did not die out. Some slaves were smuggled into the country in the years after 1808, and the birthrate of slaves was very high. Between 1820 and 1850, the number of slaves rose from 1.5 million to over 3 million. Between 1850 and 1860, the number grew from 3 million to almost 4 million. Most of the slaves brought into the United States came from the West coast of Africa. Slaves were most often treated as property. They could be moved around and sold as their owners wished. The sale of slaves was done at auctions – public sales where goods or slaves are sold to the person who offers the most money for them. Often families were broken up when children were sold to different owners than those of their parents. Parents were often separated as well.

Although slaves had no rights, they were still able to work against the system of slavery. They made up songs and stories which helped them cope with their lives. Also, some slaves slowed down their work or damaged their tools. These things had to be done carefully and in secret for fear of punishment. Many slaves escaped from their masters, but escape was difficult and dangerous since travel by slaves was closely watched. The chance of being caught was great. Slaves tried to leave the South and make their way north across the Ohio River or into Pennsylvania. They could be stopped by whites and asked for papers showing they could travel. Once an owner discovered a slave missing, a hunt began for the slave's capture and return. Escaped slaves were not really safe until they reached Canada. Slave owners offered rewards or “bounties” for the return of runaway slaves. This created a group of men called “bounty hunters”. They made their living by hunting down fugitive slaves in order to collect the rewards on them.

The feelings of people in the North about slavery were mixed. Many, perhaps the majority, were prejudiced against blacks, both free blacks in the North and slaves in the South. Of the people who were against slavery, there were some who simply did not want it to spread into new territories or states. Others, the abolitionists, wanted an end to all slavery.

Before the 1840's, leaders in both the North and South had tried to keep slavery out of politics. Neither of the major parties would take a stand on the issue. Both the Democrats and the Whigs drew support from all areas of the country, and they did not want to lose it. Arguments for and against slavery were presented, for the most part, by reformers or authors. Beginning in the 1840s, however, the slavery question came to dominate politics.

Representatives in Congress from the slave and free states had always looked out for the interests of their section. Slave states and free states had been admitted in equal numbers and had equal numbers of Senators. In 1819 a bill had come up in Congress for the admission of Missouri as a state. By that time southern and northern politicians were arguing about whether slavery should be permitted in the new territories that were then being settled in the west. Southerners argued that slave labor should be allowed in Missouri and all the other lands that formed part of the Louisiana Purchase. Both abolitionists and northerners objected strongly to this. Northern farmers moving west did not want to find themselves competing for land against southerners who had slaves to do their work for them. Senator James Tallmadge of New York presented an amendment to the bill which would outlaw slavery in Missouri. Slaves already in Missouri would be emancipated, or set free. Southern representatives were against this idea. They felt it would upset the balance of power in the Senate in favor of the North. Eventually the two sides agreed on a compromise. Slavery would be permitted in the Missouri and Arkansas territories but banned in lands to the west and north of Missouri. The Missouri Compromise, as it was called, settled slavery as a political question for the next 25 years.

The question of slavery in new lands came up again when the United States went to war with Mexico and obtained new areas. This raised again the question that the Missouri Compromise of 1820 had tried to settle – should slavery be allowed on new American territory? In 1850 Congress voted in favor of another compromise. California was admitted to the United States as a free state. This would balance Texas which had been added as a slave state in 1845. The rest of the Mexican lands were formed into two territories, New Mexico and Utah. The people of these areas were to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery. The Compromise of 1850 seemed to be a success. But it did not give the country a long period of peace. Both the North and the South were reaching the point where they were no longer willing to compromise.

One thing which hardened northern opinion against slavery was the new Fugitive Slave Act. This was a law to make it easier for southerners to recapture slaves who escaped from their masters and fled for safety to free states. The law called for “severe penalties on anyone assisting Negroes to escape from bondage”.

The Fugitive Slave Act angered many northerners who had not so far given thought to the rights and wrongs of slavery. Some northern judges refused to enforce it. Other people provided food, money, and hiding places for fugitives. They mapped out escape routes and moved runaway slaves by night from one secret hiding place to another. The final stop on these escape routes was Canada where fugitives could not be followed by American laws.

Because railroads were the most modern form of transport at that time, this carefully organized system was called the “Underground Railroad”. People providing money to pay for it were called “stockholders”. Guides who led the fugitives to freedom were called “conductors”, and hiding places were called “depots”. All these were terms that were used on ordinary railroads.

The brief peace which resulted from the Compromise of 1850 came to an end in 1854 when Congress decided to end the Missouri Compromise. West of Missouri, on land that was supposed to be closed to slavery, was a western territory called Kansas. In 1854 Congress voted to let its people decide for themselves whether to permit slavery there.

Kansas became the center of the battle over slavery. A race began to win control of Kansas. Pro-slavery immigrants poured in from the South and anti-slavery immigrants from the North, each group was determined to outnumber the other. By 1856, there were two governments in the territory – one pro-slavery and one anti-slavery. Soon fighting and killing began and the state became known as "Bleeding Kansas." Neither side won the struggle to control Kansas in 1850s. Because of the trouble there, Congress delayed its admission to the United States.

DISCUSSION

1. Why did the issue of slavery become very acute in 1850s?

2. What were the political, social and economic differences which developed between the North and the South?

3. Why did the population in the North grow faster than in the South?

4. Why did Northerners and Southerners have different views upon import duties?

5. What was the idea expressed by John C. Calhoun?

6. How were the lives of black slaves restricted?

7. What were the abolitionists’ attitudes towards slavery?

8. Who were “bounty hunters”? How did they make their living?

9. What did the agreement known as the Missouri Compromise declare?

10. Why did the territory of Kansas become known as “Bleeding Kansas”?