To begin with, Taylor from the Whigs Party won the election of 1848. But he didn't really do much. Instead, an old congressman called Henry Clay came up with a compromise to resolve the conflicts of slavery. In his compromise, he allowed the new state California (rich with gold) to become a free state, and suggested to let New Mexico and Utah Territory decide whether they wanted to be free or not through popular sovereignty. For our capital, Washington D.C, he decided to end its slave trade but not slavery. He also proposed a strict new fugitive slave law, so that the runaway slaves could be returned to their owners. This compromise finally passed in 1850.
An Overall Summary of the Compromise of 1850
My family generally liked this compromise, because of the new Fugitive Slave Act which enforced northern citizens to catch and return runaway slaves. A group of six slaves ran away from our plantation in 1849, and they were never returned. However, it seemed like that some northerners didn't favor the Fugitive Slave Act, because they felt like being forced to support slavery. A lot of them started to carry out resistance, and even formed an Underground Railroad to help enslaved people escape. This year, a new novel named Uncle Tom's Cabin was published. It tells the miserable life of the slaves in the south, and has spread much compassion for slaves in the northern states. I found out that there was a copy of this book being passed around among our slaves, and I read it as well. To tell the truth, I was so much angered by it.
Uncle Tom's Cabin Book Cover
This book is absolutely talking nonsence.The slaves working for my family are all treated pretty well. However, this evil book did have a great influence upon the ignorant slaves. In the next week, a group of 10 slaves ran away from the plantation. And the following week, another 8 slaves escaped. My father started to suspect that the Underground Railroad was helping them in certain ways, because they wouldn't be able to hide for that long in the north without being noticed. His guesss was soon proved. A friend of his living in the north heard that an anti-slavery organization was helping slaves run away and hiding them in an abandoned factory in Pennsylvania. After hearing the message, my father at once departed for Pennsylvania to capture the missing slaves.
And after a month since his departure, the sad news finally reached the rest of my family. My father, my loving father, has died in a riot!!! Those violent and evil abolitionists have killed my only father! My father had never done anything bad in his whole life. He was always kind and generous. He taught me how to read and write, how to use a gun, and how to hunt. He was my childhood hero, and he was always someone that I deeply respect. But those abolitionists just took his life from me. FOREVER! I don't know in what other way would I be able to express my feelings. I HATE THEM! I hate them deep from the bottom of my heart. I CANNOT live in a nation like this. A nation that killed my only father! I desire a nation with no abolitionists, a nation where my family and I can live peacefully, and a nation where our PROPERTIES would not be taken away! I want the abolitionists to feel the karma of violence, and feel the pain I am undergoing! I want revenge! They are my enemies for life, I swear!!!
Bibliography
Billings, Hammatt. Uncle Tom's Cabin Cover. 1852. Illustration. Boston.
ForgotToStudyVideos. Compromise of 1850. YouTube. N.p., 19 Apr. 2013. Web. 22
Jan. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXL2p2dsL2Q>.
personal liberty laws? Also Taylor didn't do much because he died and was replaced by Millard Fillmore.
ReplyDeleteIn response to the Fugitive Slave Act, some northern states fought back by passing personal liberty laws. These laws allowed the state to arrest slave catchers for kidnapping. Northerners didn't want to be forced to support slavery. I think the Fugitive Slave Act was an important part of the 1950 Compromise in keeping the balance between North and South. Northern refusal was an understandable action because the Act was against their own beliefs, but they eventually added more pressure on the South, enlarged the imbalance and caused the South to secede.
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