I. The Popular Sovereignty Panacea -Treaty of Guadalupe Hildalgo ended Mexican-American War -Debate over whether slavery should be legal in the new territories -Wilmot Proviso -Popular Sovereignty became the compromise
II. Political Triumphs for General Taylor -General Lewis Cass nominated by Democrats in 1848 -General Zachary Taylor nominated by Whigs -Free Soil Party formed
III. "Californy Gold" -Gold discovered in California in 1848 -The number of people who flooded into CA allowed the territory to apply for statehood -Wanted to be free state
IV. Sectional Balance and the Underground Railroad -South, although well off, was afraid -15 slave and 15 free states -admitting CA would tip balance -TX and NM had a territory dispute -DC had potential of abolishing -Underground RR kept freeing slaves -Harriet Tubman
V. Twilight of the Senatorial Giants -Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, Daniel Webster, and Stephen Douglass worked out Compromise of 1850 -Wanted to persuade both North and South to agree
VI. Deadlock and Danger on Capitol Hill -Many people, including the Young Guard, did not want to compromise and fought against it
VII. Breaking the Congressional Logjam -Zachary Taylor died, and was replaced by Millard Fillmore -New President signed what became the Copromise of 1850
VIII. Balancing the Compromise Scales -Terms -CA admitted as free state -UT and NM would determine if they would legalize slavery with popular sovereignty -TX lost disputed territory, but was paid $10 million -DC would still allow slavery, just no slave trade -Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 -Many Northerners pledged not to comply
IX. Defeat and Doom for the Whigs -Franklin Pierce nominated in 1852 by Democrats -Winfield Scott nominated by Whigs -Pierce's victory ended the Whig party, ending national politics for a while
X. President Pierce the Expansionist -Pierce was another expansionist who was pro-South -William Walker declared himself president of Nicaragua, but was overthrown by the inhabitants -Commodore Matthew C. Perry opened up trade with Asia
XI. Coveted Cuba: Pearl of the Antilles -Spain refused to sell Cuba, even for $120 million offered in the Ostend Manifesto -If Spain's ownership of Cuba endangered the US, then the US would seize the island -South not able to get Cuba, but the North didn't get Canada, either
XII. Pacific Railroad Promoters and the Gadsden Purchase -The most feasible railroad track would be the the Deep South, through TX, AZ, and Mexico to CA -James Gadsden made the Gadsden Purchase, buying a piece of Mexico for $10 million
XIII. Douglas's Kansas-Nebraska Scheme -Douglas proposed that slavery in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska be determined by popular sovereignty -Had the potential of allowing slavery above the 36' 30' line -Missouri Compromise would first have to be repealed -Congress passed Kansas-Nebraska Act
XIV. Congress Legislates a Civil War -Both Compromise of 1820 and 1850 were damaged by new Act -North and South did everything they could to anger the other side -Democrat party split for 28 years
