Demographic Issues

•     From 1800 to 1850, the U.S. GNP grew sevenfold

•     Per capita income doubled.

•     The population was doubling every 25 years, mostly due to natural increase (birth of children,) but also with strong immigration.

○  1840: 17 million people

○  1860: 31 million people

○  Average longer life span than most countries

•     Young Population:

○  In 1850, 52% of the population was under 20.

•     Between 1815 and 1850 the population west of the Appalachians grew 3x faster than the 13 original states.

•     By 1850, 50% of the population lived west of the Appalachian Mountains.

•     "Between 1790 and 1840, the northern population as a whole multiplied five times.

•     But in the same years, residents of nonslave areas west of the Alleghenies multiplied in number fully forty-two times."

Why the West Was So Attractive

•     "By the census of 1850, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia had 22,192,000 acres of improved land, and Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio 19,938,000. But the cash value of the farms in the three old States, with their improvements (and depletions) of two centuries, was only $380,100,000, while that of the three new States was $591,300,000."

The "Fire Eaters"

•     "Fire eaters" were Southern political extremists who urged secession over the issue of slavery in the late 1840s-1850s.

•     Their ire was particularly aroused when California applied to be admitted as a (free) state in 1849; President Zachary Taylor entertained thoughts of adding New Mexico as well.

•     Southerners were outraged- major disagreements existed over the New Mexico/Texas border, and the proposed state lacked the constitutionally required number of settlers for admission.

Sectional Strife Spirals Southward

•     Fire Eaters who dominated the Mississippi Legislature called for a convention to be held in Nashville in June, 1850. Its Purpose? Seceding from the Union.

•     President Taylor, the hero of the Mexican War, suggested that the army invade the South, restore order, and hang traitors.

•     Fist fights between Northern and Southern members of Congress became almost common on the House floor.

The Nashville "Fire Eaters" Convention

•     Of 15 slaveholding states, 9 attended.

•     Moderates dominated the convention, shutting out the extremists. Nothing was done.

Sectional Balance Destroyed-The Compromise of 1850

•     Some senators, such as NY's William Seward argued the need for moral laws to accompany man- made ones, citing a "higher law."

•     California admitted as a free state, New Mexico and Utah admitted under the concept of popular sovereignty. Texas got $10 million to pay off debts from their independence. The slave trade was also banned in Washington, D.C. A sever Fugitive Slave Law was also passed to aid the South.

The 1850 Fugitive Slave Law-aka the "Bloodhound Bill"

•     Blacks accused of being escaped slaves had no right to a trial by jury.

•     The accused had no right to testify on their own behalf.

•     A federal judge/commissioner could rule simply on the basis of an affidavit filed by the slave- owner.

•     Northerners aiding an escape could be subject to fines and/or imprisonment.

Anthony Burns case, Boston, 1854

•     Anthony Burns was an escaped 19-year old Virginia slave when found in Boston in 1854.

•     He was arrested and held, prompting a rescue attempt by a group of vigilant abolitionists that killed a U.S. Marshal.

•     President Pierce sent in army troops to restore order, demonstrating his resolve to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act.

Burns' Case

•     Burns' trial was a formality and he was sent home via a massive armed guard; he was purchased and freed the following year by wealthy abolitionists outraged by the case.