The Compromise of 1850 Postpones the Crisis

By the end of 1849, California's population had ballooned to over 100,000, more than enough to qualify for statehood.  A convention met in Monterey and drafted a state constitution, which included a slavery prohibition, later to be approved by the people.  In 1850, when California applied for admission to the Union as a free state, a raucous Congressional debate erupted.  Southerners were furious over the prospect of California, and perhaps other states later to be formed out of the Mexican Cession, entering the Union as a free state, thus upsetting the balance of power in Washington.  Some spoke openly of Southern secession.  As the debate raged, the United States stood at the precipice of disunion and civil war.

Old and feeble, Henry Clay presents his 1850 compromise to the Senate, Future President Millard Fillmore (presiding), John C. Calhoun (right of Fillmore), and Daniel Webster (head in hand) listen intently. Drawing by Peter Rothermel.  Image courtesy of Political Science Dept, College of New Jersey.

Against this ominous backdrop, 72-year old Henry Clay stepped forward to offer a compromise to save the Union.  First elected to Congress in 1810 and a three-time presidential candidate, Clay was a towering figure in American politics.

Standing weak and feeble on the Senate floor, Clay proposed a series of resolutions carefully drafted to balance the interests of the North and the South.  They were: (1) The immediate admission of California as a free state.  (2) The organization of land acquired from Mexico (except California) into the territories of New Mexico and Utah, with each territory to decide for themselves whether or not slavery would be allowed, on the basis of "popular sovereignty".  (3)  A payment of $10 million to Texas for settling debts the Texans owed to American creditors since the 1830's, if the state would abandon its claim to parts of New Mexico east of the Rio Grande.  (4) The abolition of buying and selling slaves --but not slavery itself-- in the District of Columbia.  (5) Slavery was not to be abolished in the District of Columbia without approval of its residents and the state of Maryland, and then only if owners were fairly compensated for their slaves.  (6) A stricter fugitive slave law, one that require local law enforcement to cooperate with federal officials in the capture and return of escaped slaves.

An advertisement for a slave auction.  Image courtesy of Library of Congress.

Clay's proposals were followed by one of the most critical Senate debates in American history.  Day after day, the Senate gallery was filled with important spectators and newspaper reporters.  Magnificent speeches went on for hours and sometimes longer.  John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, also elected to Congress for the first time in 1810, wrote a stinging condemnation of Clay's compromise.  Too sick to deliver the address himself, another southern senator read the impassioned speech for him.  Calhoun warned that while it was important to preserve the Union, he was willing to rip it apart if the interests of the South were at stake.

Massachusetts senator Daniel Webster, perhaps the greatest orator of his time, and like Clay and Calhoun, a longtime veteran of Washington, pleaded eloquently of saving the Union by voting in favor of the compromise.

Most Americans in both the North and South seemed to favor the compromise.  In September 1850 Congress adopted all of Clay's proposals by comfortable margins.  The nation rejoiced.  Newspapers praised the work of Clay and his colleagues for preserving national unity.  The Compromise of 1850, as it came to be called, at least for a time lessened sectional strife over the issue of slavery.  But would the compromise last?  This was on the minds of many as the 1850's continued on.

Coin Availability Improves During the 1850's

Horace Greeley, a fixture on the national stage for many years, was most famous for his advice "Go West, Young Man".  As a founding member of the Republican party, his exuberant spirit highlighted American politics in the 1850's. Image courtesy of the National Archives.

While the North-South crisis continued to simmer, both sides could at least agree that something needed to be done to retain more coins in circulation.  The problem stemmed from the fact that US silver coins contained a high percentage of the precious metal, and were worth more in silver content than face value when the metals market increased even slightly.  These conditions led to hoarding and a reduction in the quantity of coins available for public use.

 

"We give way to this debasement [of silver] as inevitable...  Let it now be solemnly enacted that gold is the national standard of value...  Let the silver coinage be altered to conform to the fact, but let the standard of gold be unvarying evermore -- silver being used as change..."

The Kansas-Nebraska Act Revives Tensions

Abolitionist John Brown, shown here in John Steuert Curry's State Capital building mural in Topeka, KS, believed God was calling him to murderous vigilante action against pro-slavery forces coming to Kansas.  The warfare in Kansas was a tragic prelude to events to come nationally.  Brown was hanged in 1859 for his failed attempt to capture the arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, in the hope of igniting a slave rebellion.  Image courtesy of Kansas State Historical Society.

Old wounds were reopened with the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854.  Sponsored by Senator Stephen A. Douglas, the act organized Kansas and Nebraska into territories, authorizing settlement of the areas.  It also repealed the Missouri Compromise and gave both territories popular sovereignty, allowing settlers to decide for themselves whether or not they would permit slavery in their territory.

The New Small Cent

As the number of United States coins in circulation increased, the necessity for the use of foreign and private coins decreased.  Congress enacted a law in 1857 to prohibit the continued use of foreign and private coins in circulation.  The 1857 law also called for the elimination of the half cent coin, and replaced the large copper cent by a smaller cent design having a metallic composition of 88% copper and 12% nickel.  The large coppers were unpopular (“too ugly, too heavy”) with the public and were costly to produce at the mint. 

The First Shots of the American Civil War

Bombardment of Fort Sumter, as depicted by this Currier and Ives lithograph.  Federal troops held out 34 hours, before surrendering.  Incredibly, no one was killed in the heavy shelling. The fort's defenders were allowed to return to the North.  Image courtesy of Library of Congress.

As the 1850’s came to a close, the stage was set for a fracture between the North and the South.  The election of Abraham Lincoln in November 1860 was the earthquake that finally split the nation asunder, along predictable economic and political fault lines. 

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