Renewing the Sectional Struggle

Chapter 18

Zachary Taylor

• 12th President (1849-1850)• Party/Age/State: Whig, 64, Louisiana• Wife: Margaret, 4 children• Traits: slovenly appearance, poor

speaker, relaxed manager• Nom de guerre: “Old Rough & Ready”

Fun Facts

• never registered to vote - didn’t even vote in his own election

• cousin of Robert E. Lee• his son-in-law was

Jefferson Davis

Background

• Celebrity - hero of Mexican War - he didn’t seek the presidency; both parties approached him & wanted him as their candidate

• Appealed to North (war hero) AND appealed to South (southern landowner)

• Didn’t view presidency as a powerful office - said he’d never use the veto

Slavery

• felt the issue should be decided by Congress & he’d go along with whatever they proposed

Compromise of 1850

• By Henry Clay• bundle of bills designed to admit CA as a free

state with some slavery measures favorable to the South

Fugitive Slave Act (1850)

• Part of 1850 Compromise• Law enforcement officials

mandated by law to arrest anyone suspected of being a runaway slave, based solely on a claimant’s sworn testimony of ownership

Fugitive Slave Act, cont.

• Suspected slave could not testify on his/her behalf, nor could he/she ask for a jury trial

• Officials who did not comply - $1,000 fine BUT those who did got compensation

• Person caught aiding a slave - $1,000 fine AND 6 months in prison

• Most controversial piece of the 1850 Compromise

Taylor & the Compromise of 1850

• Taylor surprised many and was not pleased - said there was nothing to compromise - CA should be free and that’s it…

• Threatened to veto• South threatened to secede - Taylor’s solution:

o “I’ll hang them, starting with my son in law Jefferson Davis!”

• Barely a year into his presidency, Taylor was evolving into an ardent unionist

The End of Taylor

• July 4, 1850 - Taylor went to a groundbreaking ceremony for the Washington Monument owas very hoto Had cherries and a pitcher of milk to cool downo a few hours later, he complained of severe

stomach painso died 5 days latero cause of death: severe gastroenteritis

(inflammation of lining of intestines)

Conspiracy Theories Abound

• Arsenic Poisoning?• Truth revealed in 1991

o No traces of arsenico Actual cause: a form of

cholera

Millard Fillmore

• 13th President (1850-1853)• Party/Age/State: Whig, 50, New

York• Wife: Abigail, 2 children• Traits: amiable, modest,

avid reader, delegated authority - aimed to please and appease rather than lead

• Fun Fact: never met Taylor until AFTER they were elected

His Way

• Fired all of Taylor’s cabinet (felt they overlooked him)

• Signed Compromise of 1850 into law - thought it would permanently put to rest the issue by preserving the status quo

Slavery

• Fillmore supported slaveryo Believed its abolition would lead to a collapse of

the Southern economyo Blamed abolitionists for making slavery an issue -

thought they were trouble makerso Believed the institution of slavery to be protected

by the Constitutiono Did not grasp the moral consequences

The End of Fillmore

• Whigs angry – do not nominate him in the Election of 1852

• Considered one of the most forgettable presidencies in American history

Franklin Pierce

• 14th President (1853-1857)• Party/State: Democrat, 48, New

Hampshire• Wife: Jane, 3 children (all

died in youth)• Traits: charming, outgoing,

charismatic, courteous, heavy drinker (sober during presidency), indecisive manager

• Nickname: “Handsome Frank”

Background

• Entered office loved by everyone, left office reviled by all

• Considered mentally unstable by many due to a personal tragedy mere weeks prior to entering office

• January 1853 – 11 year old son Benny died

Things Can Only Get Better, Right?

• No…more tragedy strucko VP William Rufus King died a

month after taking office (TB)

Now They’ll Get Better?

• Again, no, thanks to Stephen Douglas…

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

• Sponsored by Douglas• Meant to repeal the Missouri Compromise of

1820 which banned slavery above the southern border of Missouri

• Intent - to let new states of KS & NB decide for themselves re: slavery (“popular sovereignty”)

Kansas-Nebraska Act

• Douglas – swears to make Pierce’s life a living hell (as if it wasn’t already) if he doesn’t back the bill

• Pierce – caves to bullying• Antislavery faction – very angry…esp. Abe

Lincoln (who will form the Republican Party in response)

Bleeding Kansas

• Border Wars (1854-1858)• In KS territory, anti & pro

slavery groups were literally fighting out the debate

• Antislavery group led by John Brown

• May 21, 1856 - pro-slavery forces burned down abolitionist stronghold of Lawrence, KS

Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting?

• May 22nd – Rep. Preston Smith Brooks (SC) attacked Sen. Charles Sumner (MA) with a cane– Sumner collapsed– Brooks continued to beat the unconscious Sumner

until his cane broke!– Sumner not able to return to Senate for 3 years as

a result of injuries

Downward Spiral

• The US was clearly on a downward spiral• Pierce could not secure his party’s nomination

& left office shamed and loathed• Could Buchanan do better? Tune in next

time…

Closure

• The US was clearly spiraling downward – discuss with your partner 2 ways this was evident