-
"The exception was the fugitive slave
law of 1850, which gave the national government more power than any
other law yet passed by Congress. This irony resulted from the Supreme
Court's decision in Prigg v. Pennsylvania(1842)"(McPherson, 98) -
Having been elected in 1844 on a platform
demanding Oregon to a northern boundary of 54° 40' and Texas to a
southern boundary of the Rio Grande River, Polk compromised with
Britain on 49° but went to war against Mexico for Texas-with Califor-
nia and New Mexico thrown in for good measure. And thereby hung a
tale of sectional conflict that erupted into civil war a decade and a half
later. (McPherson, 67). -
Polk's appetite was originally sated by New Mexico and California.In April 1847 he sent Nicholas Trist to Mexico as a commissioner to
negotiate a treaty for these provinces. (McPherson, 70) -
The year 1852 turned out to be the last one in which the Whig party
contested a presidential election. Millard Fillmore's efforts to enforce
the fugitive slave law won him the support of southern Whigs for re-
nomination. But the president had alienated antislavery Whigs, espe-
cially the Seward faction in Fillmore's own state of New York. (McPherson, 137). -
At the outset, however, Missourians from just across the border were
stronger in numbers than the free soilers and at least equal in determi-
nation. "We are playing for a mighty stake," Senator David Atchison of
Missouri assured Virginia's Robert M. T. Hunter. "The game must be
played boldly .... If we win we carry slavery to the Pacific Ocean, if
we fail we lose Missouri Arkansas Texas and all the territories." (McPherson, 165). -
Even more important than the fugitive slave issue in arousing north-
ern militancy was the Kansas-Nebraska Act passed by Congress in May
1854. Coming at the same time as the Anthony Burns case, this law
may have been the most important single event pushing the nation toward
civil war. Kansas-Nebraska finished off the Whig party and gave birth
to a new, entirely northern Republican party. (McPherson, 141). -
As
Sumner started to rise, the frenzied Brooks beat him over the head thirty
times or more with a gold-headed cane as Sumner, his legs trapped
under the bolted-down desk, finally wrenched it loose from the floor and collapsed with his head covered by blood. (McPherson, 170) -
he Court's only statement on such contentious issues, the
southern majority reconsidered its decision to ignore them and voted to
have Chief Justice Roger B. Taney write a comprehensive ruling. Thus,
according to this interpretation, McLean and Curtis were responsible
for provoking the vexatious Dred Scott decision that superseded Nelson's
innocuous opinion. (McPherson, 192). -
Under an assumed name Brown rented
a farm in Maryland across the Potomac River from Harper's Ferry, Vir-
ginia. He planned to seize the U. S. armory and arsenal there and
distribute its arms to the slaves as they joined up with him. (McPherson, 225). -
But the repercussions resounded for years. Passions ran high in Vir-
ginia, where mobs clamored for Brown's blood. To forestall a lynching
the state of Virginia hastily indicted, tried, and convicted Brown of trea-
son, murder, and fomenting insurrection. The judge sentenced him to
hang one month later, on December 2. The other six captured raiders
also received swift trials; four of them (including two blacks) were hanged
on December 16 and the remaining two on March 16, 1860. (McPherson, 226).