Slavery and the Southern Economy

2. Slavery and the Southern Economy • The South was mainly agricultural with very little manufacturing • The main crops during the mid 1800s were rice and cotton, both which required extensive labor to produce • Though slavery was prevalent in the South, the vast majority of Southerners did not own slaves

3. Nat Turner’s Revolt • Slave Codes put restrictions on slaves, preventing them from learning to read and write and restricting their rights • Nat Turner, a Virginia slave, believed God had chosen him to lead a revolt • Turner and his followers killed more than 50 people before being caught • Turner’s Revolt led to states passing even stricter codes and restrictions on both slaves and free African Americans

4. Abolitionist • Grimke Sisters: South Carolina sisters who moved north to promote the abolitionist movement • William Lloyd Garrison became one of the country’s leading abolitionist, publishing the pro-abolitionist newspaper the Liberator. He believed in complete emancipation • Fredrick Douglas, a former slave from Maryland, published the abolitionist newspaper the North Star and an autobiography

5. The Missouri Compromise • In 1819 the U.S. consisted of 11 free and 11 slave states • Missouri applied for statehood as a slave state in 1819 • To off set the imbalance Maine applied for statehood as a free state • The Missouri Compromise granted statehood to both free and slave states and set a boundary for which areas slavery could expand in to Why would the South agree not to expand slavery into the Unorganized Louisiana Territory?

6. c. Describe the Nullification Crisis and the emergence of states’ rights ideology; include the role of John C. Calhoun and development of sectionalism. d. Describe the war with Mexico and the Wilmot Proviso. e. Explain the Compromise of 1850.

7. Nullification Crisis • In the early 1800s South Carolina’s economy began to weaken in part due to high government tariffs, or taxes, on imports • In 1828 Congress passed another tariff, which many called the Tariff of Abominations • South Carolina threatened to secede from the U.S. over the high tariffs Why would tariffs hurt Southern states like South Carolina more than Northern States?

8. Nullification Crisis • Vice-President John C. Calhoun, from South Carolina, supported the idea of nullification, or the right of the states to declare federal laws null, or void • He declared that states had this power of nullification because the states had created the federal government

9. Nullification Crisis • In 1832, Congress passed yet another tariff law • In November 1832, South Carolina declared the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 null, and refused to pay the federal government’s taxes on imports

10. Nullification Crisis • President Andrew Jackson ordered a warship to Charleston, viewing the nullification as a treasonous act • To ease tensions, Congress passed a bill that gradually lowered tariffs • South Carolina repealed its nullification of tariffs and the issue was temporarily solved How was the Nullification Crisis an example of sectionalism?

11. War With Mexico • James Polk became President in 1845, promising to annex Texas, and Oregon. • The U.S. annexes Texas, causing a boundary dispute with Mexico. • Polk ordered the army into the disputed area where Mexican troops opened fire on the Americans • Polk then declared war on Mexico, claiming they were the aggressors

12. War With Mexico • The American army is ordered into Mexico, and out to California • Before the troops can reach California, a group of American settlers revolt and take the area naming it the Bear Flag Republic • In 1847, the U.S. Army enters Mexico City causing the Mexicans to surrender and ending the war

13. War With Mexico • Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war, giving the U.S. a vast amount of land in the Southwest • The U.S. now stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean Why would this treaty cause problems with the Slavery issue?

14. Wilmot Proviso • Proposed in 1846, that any territory gained from Mexico would not be allowed to have slaves • The proposal upset Southerners, and though it passed in the House, the Senate refused to vote on it • The Wilmot Proviso continued a north-south sectionalism divided over the slavery issue

15. Wilmot Proviso • To counter the Wilmot Proviso and to ease tension, a proposal was made to allow the new territories to decide for themselves on the slavery issue, an idea called popular sovereignty • California applied for statehood in 1849, threatening to break the balance of free and slave states • Henry Clay proposed a resolution which became known as the Compromise of 1850

16. Compromise of 1850 • Though the Compromise initially had little support, it was passed, by dividing it into smaller bills, allowing Congress to vote on each issue separately easing the tension, for the time being, over slavery