APUSH Review Terms Part 2

James polk, a democratic expansionist, against whig leader henry clay. polks supporters claimed 54 40 or flight meaning that americas northwestern border should be extended to that latidude, deep in canadian territory. clay also favored expansion but at a slower rate. clay hoped to avoid war by negotiating with briatian and mexico. close election but polk won.

Polk realized the US couldnt afford a war with both mexico and britain. conceded on demands for expansion deep into canada and instead negotiated a more reasonable american canadian border. the oregon treaty, allowed the US to aquire peacefully what is now oregon, washington, and parts of idaho, wyoming, and montana. also established the current northern border of the region.

Polk tried to buy land from mexicans but when they refused, provoked them into attack. they were already provoked from texas. polk used their attack to ask for war.did not have universal support from the american public. abolitionists feared the new territory would tip the balance to the slave states. others argued polk had provoked mexico into war at the request of powerful slave owners.

Southerners who were supposedly pulling strings to start the mexican american war. seemed to the abolitionists to be controling the government.

Raised suspicions of slave power, which in any bill asked to abolish slavery was tabled and not to be discussed.

A congressional bill prohibiting the extension of slavery into any territory gained from mexico. defeated which reenforced the idea of slave power.

Formed after the defeat of the wilmot proviso, which had beens trongly supported by the north. the free soil party was a regional single issue party devoted to the goals of the wilmot proviso and anti slavery.

The US won so easily that polk was able to send troops across the southwest and into california. the war was over when the US invaded mexico city. in the treaty, mexico handed the US almost all of the sodern southwest: arizona, new mexico, california, nevada, and utah. this is known as the mexican cession. the US paid $15 million for the land.

New land major problem about slavery. democrats when forced to confront the issue , introduced popular sovereignty. it meant that the territories themselves would decide, by vote, whether to allow slavery within their botders. when the whigs also refused to oppose slavery, the party split.

The whig party split over the issue of popular soverignty when teh whole party would not agree to oppose slavery. anti slavery whigs, called the concscience whigs, began to join the free soil party, leaving the whig party in the hands of the cotton whigs.

First whig president, won because was a nondescript war hero. but the whig party was on its way out. the political upheaval caused by slavery proved to be too divisive to the whigs. party ended in 1856 as the new republican party was emerging.

Henry clar and stephen douglas hammered out the compromise of 1850. when presented as a whole package, didnt pass in congress. douglas realised that when broken down into smaller bits, different groups supported differeent partts of the compromise, and he organized majorities to support each of the component bills. together, the bills admitted california as a free state and enacted a stronger fugitive slave law. also created the territories of utauh and new mexico but left the status of slavery up to each territory to decide only when it came time to write a constitution, reenforcing pop sov. abolished the slave trade, but not slavery itself in washinton DC>

The north and the south interpreted this differently to support their own positions. south viewed as could have slavery when a territory

Anti slavery sentiments in the north grew due to this book, written by harriet beecher stowe. she wished to avoid political preaching, instead playing on peoples sympathies. it was an extremely powerful piece of propaganda, awakening anti slavery sentiment in millions who had never before given the issue much thought.

Setllers entering into kansas and enbrasska found no established civil authority. congress wanted to build railways but needed some form of government order. Dougleas tried to solve this with the kansas nebraska act of 1854. it left the fate of slavery up to the people without specifying when or how they were to decide. he opened the territories to slavery which repealed the missouri compromise, further destabilizing the political situation. northerners considered this a betrayal as further evidence of slave power. many northern states passed laws weakening the fugitive act