10. • California was ready to admit to the US as a
FREE state
• Southerners were outraged!
11. Compromise of 1850
• Proposed by Henry Clay
1. California would be admitted as a free state
2. The remainder of the areas could decide for
themselves if they wanted slavery by popular
sovereignty (a vote)
3. Strict Fugitive Slave Law was passed
12. Fugitive Slave Law
• All runaway slaves were to be returned to
their owners with the help of the government
15. Differences between the North and South
• The South was agricultural
– Grew cash crops, mainly cotton
16. Slaveholders in the South, 1860
1-4 slaves
5-19 slaves
20-49 slaves
50-99 slaves
100-499 slaves
500+ slaves
17. • Only 1% of the Southern population ruled
politically, economically and socially
• Southerners believed that slavery was vital to
a stable society
• Believed that blacks did not have the
intelligence or ability to participate alongside
whites in society
18. • The North was Industrial
– Most immigrants lived in the North and worked in
these factories
“wage slaves”–
What southerners
called these
factory workers
because of their
poor working and
living conditions
19. The South
• Felt states’ rights were more important than
federal government
• Opposed a high tariff because they had little
industry
The North viewed the South as unjust and the South viewed the North as greedy…each viewed the other as uncultured. Both sides became willing to pay a very high price to expand their own way of life.
Owners of small farms and other southerners without slaves made up ¾ of the white population
Wage slaves – working and living conditions of some Northern workers was so poor that Southerners called them wage slaves
Southerners felt that they were being forced to pay a tariff that supported Northern industry.
