EARLY STATEHOOD POLITICS AND THE

COMPROMISE OF 1850

EARLY TEXAS POLITICS

George T. Wood vs. Native Americans

Peter H. Bell (2 terms) Elisha M. Pease …

probably the most successful of governors…set up the permanent school fund; built a new capitol; pushed for RR construction; DEBT FREE Texas

Hardin R. Runnels vs. Native Americans

Sam Houston…TX president; US senator; TX governor

Democratic Party…farmers and ranchers; strong in South

Whig Party…fell apart over slavery…replaced with Republican Party

Texas Governors Political Parties

Issues Facing the State

Population growth Border issues Railroads School Debt Native Americans

PROBLEMS IN THE USA

California – free state? Texas vs. New Mexico – border? Washington D.C. – slavery? Slave trade? Territories – slave or free states?

PROPOSED SOLUTION

James K. Polk proposed extending the line of the Missouri Compromise to the Pacific Ocean.

PROPOSED SOLUTION

David Wilmot’s Proviso a proposal to prohibit slavery in any newly acquired land.

THE SOLUTION

Henry Clay, U.S. senator from Kentucky, was determined to find a solution.

TheCompromiseOf 1850

COMPROMISE OF 1850

According to the compromise, Texas would relinquish the land in dispute but, in compensation, be given 10 million dollars -- money it would use to pay off its debt to Mexico.

COMPROMISE OF 1850

The territories of New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah would be organized without mention of slavery. (The decision would be made by the territories' inhabitants later, when they applied for statehood.)

COMPROMISE OF 1850

Washington DC, the slave trade would be abolished in the District of Columbia, although slavery would still be permitted.

COMPROMISE OF 1850

California would be admitted as a free state.

COMPROMISE OF 1850

The Fugitive Slave Act was the most controversial. It required citizens to assist in the recovery of fugitive slaves. It denied a fugitive's right to a jury trial.

North Gets South Gets

California admitted as a free state

No slavery restrictions in Utah or New Mexico territories

Slave trade prohibited in Washington D.C.

Slaveholding permitted in Washington D.C.

Texas loses boundary dispute with New Mexico

Texas gets $10 million

Fugitive Slave Law

COMPROMISE OF 1850

California…free state Texas vs. New Mexico…TX gives up 1/3 of its

overall land in exchange for $10 million (what was $$ used for?)

New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona would be able to decide for themselves under the popular sovereignty rule

Washington D.C….give up slave trade but remain slave state

Fugitive Slave Act…required citizens to assist in the recovery of fugitive slaves. It denied a fugitive's right to a jury trial.

COMPROMISE OF 1850

The Compromise of 1850 accomplished what it set out to do -- it kept the nation united -- but the solution was only temporary.

SlaveryA Poem

O great design!Ye Sons of Mercy! O complete your work;Wrench from Oppresion’s hand the iron rod,And bid the cruel feel the pains they give.

By Hannah More

Universal Freedom is…

Freedom from hunger and freedom from pain…freedom from loss and do freedom from gain.Freedom to give and freedom to share…Freedom from want and that of despair.

By George Krokos

Strange Fruit

"Southern trees bear strange fruit,Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,Here is a strange and bitter crop.“

by Billie Holiday

Your job is to write a two stanza (5 lines per stanza) poem about slavery. Use these steps below to help write your

poem.Step 1: Write down the title of your poem.

Step 2: Write down a metaphor describing how you feel about slavery.

Step 3: Write down two facts about slavery.

a)

b)

Step 4: Write down a quote one might say about slavery during the 1850’s.

Step 5: Write down a simile describing how you feel about slavery.

Step 6: Write down two vivid, active verbs describing slavery.

Step 7: Write down two descriptive adjectives describing slavery.

Part II: On a spate sheet of paper, construct your poem using the information from the sheet to create your two stanza s of poetry.

***Remember, each stanza needs five lines.