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In Chapter 21 of The Rise of American Democracy, Wilentz discusses the disputes in the US over the admission and control of western territories (California, Texas, New Mexico) largely in regards to slavery. The disputes can be summed up into North vs. South. When President Taylor presented his plan for admitting California, and soon after New Mexico, many southerners further projected thoughts of secession from the Union. Henry Clay then stepped in to quiet the outraged southerners with his set of resolutions: admission of California and the rest of Mexico’s given up land with no restrictions on the subject of slavery, the next basically preventing a pro-slave state coming out of Texas, another attempting to resolve the fight over slavery in DC by proposing the abolition of slave trade, not slavery itself in DC, and lastly denying congressional authority over the interstate slave trade with more strict federal laws in the recovery of fugitive slaves to offset the personal liberty laws put in action by the north. Reasonably, the resolutions did favor the South slightly, and I say reasonably because if they didn’t, then the South would have no reason to comply.
Later, the conclusion was reached, disregarding which deal was chosen, that if California was admitted into the Union as a free state, the southern states would be under the power of the north. Because of the many compromises and of new land by the North, the South was drastically falling behind in how much control it had in the future of the nation. In Thomas’ post, he talks about the effects of the Compromise of 1850 and also the controversy caused by the Fugitive slave law. Basically the compromise of 1850 was a delay because at the rate that the North and South were dividing and playing against each other in controlling new land out west and fighting for or against slavery, the Union was bound to separate. The North had begun taking any advantage it had over the south to remain in control, and the South, in response to that, began talk about seceding to use as leverage for many pro-slavery laws. Thus, leading to the Civil war in the near future.
Overall it was a very interesting reading; I enjoyed Wilentz’s depiction of both sides of the arguments made by the North and the South. It really gave me a grasp of the larger picture of what was going on at the time.