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It's Miko Mini Plus, the AI-powered companion that turns curiosity into endless learning. Hear the future of playtime. Meet the extraordinary Miko Mini Plus. only at Costco. Yeah.
Hear that? That's what it sounds like when you plant more trees than you harvest. Work done by thousands of working forest professionals like Adam, a district forest manager who works to protect our forests from fires. Keeping the forest fire-resistant synonymous with keeping a forest healthy, and we do that through planting more than we harvest and mitigate those risks through active management. It's a long-term commitment.
Visit WorkingForestsInitiative.com to learn more. I turned off news altogether. I hate to say it, but I don't trust much of anything. It's the rage bait. It feels like it's trying to divide people.
If we got clear facts, maybe we could calm down a little. NBC News brings you clear reporting. Let's meet at the facts. Let's move forward from there. NBC News reporting for America.
Okay, only 10 more presents to wrap. You're almost at the finish line. But first... Uh Um There. The last one.
Enjoy a Coca-Cola for a pause that... refreshes. This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people. And to search for the Our American Stories podcast, go to the iHeartRadio app. or wherever you get your podcasts.
You've probably learned about the Compromise of 1850 in history class, but it was almost certainly glossed over in favor of the Civil War, which came a mere 10 years later. We think that's unfortunate because the story behind how the compromise came to be does a lot about the state of America at that time. Here to tell the story is Gettysburg National Park Service Ranger John Hoptak. Take it away, John.
Well After years and years of tension, the American Civil War began in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In the summer of 1850. When Texas state forces overran and attacked U. S. infantry posted there under Colonel John Monroe.
Did anyone guess that? Good. Of course you know this is not true. But But It very nearly was the case. This Civil War almost began eleven years before Fort Sumter.
And if it did begin then, the most likely place was Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 1850, the nation was at the edge of disunion. and the issue that was tearing the country apart What's slavery? There were 30 states in the country in 1850 and about 23 million people. Of those 23 million people, approximately 3.2 million were enslaved.
The United States had also just trounced its neighbor to the south, Mexico.
Now, as a result of the Mexican-American War, the United States grew by a staggering 40%. From 1.75 million square miles to 3 million square miles, getting the territories of New Mexico, Utah. and California. Yet, of course, ironically, it was this very vast acquisition of new land. which very very likely threatened to tear the nation apart.
The debate very simply stated Was whether slavery would be allowed to spread into that newly acquired land.
Southerners And slaveholders in particular said yes. Slaves, they thought, they felt. We're property. And the Fifth Amendment says the government cannot interfere with personal property. That they should be able to take their enslaved people wherever they wanted to go, and especially into this territory.
Many Southerners, of course, had fought in the Mexican War, and they were adamant that they will not be denied entry. into that land. Many Northerners, on the other hand, and not just abolitionists, but many Northerners said no. Slavery had already grown too powerful in this land of liberty that it should not spread any further. and especially not into this territory because Mexico had outlawed slavery here.
in the 1820s. The argument between the North and South were at a fever pitch to such a degree that there were many in this country who felt. that this union was inevitable. And there were some people who thought that nothing should be done.
Now this debate was certainly nothing new. in 1819 when Missouri the first state to be organized from the Louisiana Purchase applied for statehood into the country. Even then, the thought of admitting Missouri almost drove this nation apart. the Missouri Compromise was worked out, which settled things down for a few years. But things had become so heated during the Missouri debates that Thomas Jefferson, An aged Thomas Jefferson famously declared that this compromise frightened him like a fire bell in the night.
I considered it at once the knell of the Union. It is hushed indeed for the moment, but this is a reprieve only. Not a final sentence. And just as he predicted, it was only a reprieve. One which ended in a big way in 1846, right after the nation went to war with Mexico, when Congressman David Wilmot of Pennsylvania.
introduced a proviso. to an appropriations bill. And that proviso said, Any territory. Any territory to be gained from Mexico will not have slavery. That proviso set off a firestorm not only in Congress, but across the nation.
Wilmot's proviso was brought up every single year in Congress. In 1846, 1847, 1848, 1849, and every single year it passed the House of Representatives. but not the Senate. And that is an important point that needs to be made. Going hand in hand.
with this debate. over the expansion of slavery. was this very delicate balance of power In Washington, D.C. As I noted earlier, in 1850 there were 30 states. 15 north and 15 south.
There were 60 senators, 30 from northern states. 30 from southern states. What happens if one more state is added? That balance of power We'll shift. It will shift.
Now the House, the House of Representatives was dominated by Northerners. The population of the North was much larger than it was of the South. And that would have been much bigger in the House if it were not for that 3-5th clause. The 3-5th clause of the Constitution gave the South 60 additional members of the House of Representatives in 1850.
Okay, representing their so-called constituents. who were enslaved. It was in the Senate. where this balance of power was threatened. And as John Calhoun, as John Calhoun said, The day that the balance of power between the two sections of the country is destroyed is a day that will not be far removed from political revolution, anarchy, civil war, and widespread disaster.
Well, things were coming to a head.
So, what can be worked out? And you've been listening to Gettysburg National Park Service Ranger John Hoptak. It's the Civil War that almost happened before the Civil War. He describes that and describes the circumstances. We had had the Missouri Compromise right after the Louisiana Purchase, and then comes these new states after the Mexican War.
And what will this do to the balance of power, particularly in the U.S. Senate? When we come back, the fateful compromise of 1850. That story continues here on Our American Story. Lee Habib here.
As we approach our nation's 250th anniversary, I'd like to remind you that all the history stories you hear on this show are brought to you by the great folks at Hillsdale College. And Hillsdale isn't just a great school for your kids or grandkids to attend, but for you as well. Go to hillsdale.edu to find out about their terrific free online courses. Again, go to hillsdale.edu and sign up for their free and terrific online courses. Time for a sofa upgrade?
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Offers are subject to change and service. restrictions may apply. Mm. Shh. You won't believe what my new friend just told me about dinosaurs.
Is your child having conversations you never imagined? Are they learning without realizing it? It's not a tablet. It's not a toy. It's Miko Mini Plus, the AI-powered companion that turns curiosity into endless learning.
Hear the future of playtime. Meet the extraordinary Miko Mini Plus. Only at Costco. I turned off news altogether. I hate to say it, but I don't trust much of anything.
It's the rage bait. It feels like it's trying to divide people. If we got clear facts, maybe we could calm down a little. NBC News brings you clear reporting. Let's meet at the facts.
Let's move forward from there. NBC News Reporting for America. Hear that? That's what it sounds like when you plant more trees than you harvest. Work done by thousands of working forest professionals like Adam, a district forest manager who works to protect our forests from fires.
Keeping a forest fire-resistant is synonymous with keeping a forest healthy. And we do that through planting more than we harvest and mitigate those risks through active management. It's a long-term commitment. Visit WorkingForestInitiative.com to learn more. Yeah.
It's 1972. A young British family is attempting to sail around the world when disaster strikes. Their boat is hit by killer whales and it sinks in seconds. All they have left is a life raft and each other. This is the true story of the Robertson family and their fight to survive, hosted by me, Becky Milligan.
Listen to Adrift, an Apple original podcast produced by Blanchard House. Follow and listen on Apple podcasts. And we return to our American stories and the story of the Compromise of 1850. When we last left off, America was teetering on the edge of a full-blown civil war over the expansion of slavery. It was up to the 31st Congress to try to solve the issues and save the country.
Let's get back to the story. Here again is Gettysburg National Park Service Ranger John Hoptak. There were five major issues facing the country. And each of those five had the power to tear the nation apart. Those five issues were As follows.
California. Tens of thousands of people flocked to California. Why? Looking for gold. Looking to strike it rich.
and it was quite readily apparent that some kind of government was needed there. It was becoming like an outlaw territory.
So they got together in 1849 and they wrote a constitution for their state. And in that territorial constitution, the people of California said unanimously, We do not want slavery here. Northerners.
Okay, that's great. When could we get you into the country?
Southerners said what? Uh uh uh because that balance of power would be shifted. A second issue that was confronting the nation, New Mexico and Utah. Utah was a far way from organizing. But New Mexico wasn't.
And the people of New Mexico said, We do not want slavery to spread into this land.
Now going hand in hand with this issue, was another big-time problem. And this was the most incendiary, most potentially explosive problem of them all. Texas was the biggest state in the Union. It wanted to be bigger still. It was claiming a sizable portion of New Mexico.
A fourth problem. slavery and the slave trade in the nation's capital. The fact that there were foreign visitors arriving in the capital of this land of liberty. and they could see a slave auction taking place. People were repelled by that.
And finally, The fifth major problem. Widespread violations of that fugitive slave law. Northerners were simply not following the law. hiding them, helping them to freedom. The Southerners claim that there were 30,000 escaped slaves living in the North by 1850, worth $15 million.
Those were the five major issues that confronted the United States. But before anything could get done, the House of Representatives had to elect a Speaker of the House. Simple, right? It took 63 ballots. Before a Speaker was finally elected.
And for the first and only time in American history, it was decided that a simple plurality of the vote would do. Not a majority.
Now that a speaker had been elected. It was time to get the president, Stant. And there is old rough and ready Zachary Taylor. A war hero. He rode his military heroics to the White House.
He was, though, a political novice, and reportedly he had never cast a vote in his life. Many believed he was entirely, wholly unqualified. Henry Clay wrote that his only qualification for the presidency was sleeping 40 years in the woods and cultivating moss on the calves of his legs.
Now, Zachary Taylor was honest. Plain spoken. And as it turned out, many underestimated him. His four decades in the uniform to his country had instilled in him a pure patriotic love. of country.
He was stubborn, independent-minded. And he made clear from the very start that he was not going to be a mere rubber stamp. for the Southern slave owners in Congress.
Southerners supported his bid for the Presidency because he was, after all, a Southern slaveholder. But Zachary Taylor called slavery a moral and political evil. And he was opposed. to extending it. His idea for solving the nation's problems?
Let's get California in. And that was it.
Southerners, of course, are already outraged with Taylor. And there were others in the Senate. Who felt that Zachary Taylor simply did not go far enough?
Now, Henry Clay. He was watching with alarm. all the drama playing out in the house.
Now he felt that he and the Senate could come up with a compromise. He felt that if peace is going to be restored to this country, it would be up to him. And he was ready to take the lead. He was beloved and lionized across the land as the great compromiser. He had taken the lead in that 1820 Missouri Compromise.
Abraham Lincoln called him the Bow Ideal. Overstatesman. He was seventy three years old and in failing health. But despite all of his accomplishments, the one thing that he coveted most had always eluded him. And that was the presidency.
He sought the Whig Party nomination for president five times. He got it three times. He lost all three times. He lost his son, killed in action in the Mexican War, fighting under Zachary Taylor at Buena Vista. He was a slave owner too.
But he opposed it. And he would spend much of January working out Ideas. And on January 29th, to a packed Senate chamber. Henry Clay rose and he presented a great national scheme of compromise and harmony. And his proposals were this.
California will be coming into the Union. without slavery. Congress shall pass no law prohibiting or allowing for slavery in New Mexico. Let the people there decide. Third, Texas will relinquish its claim on any New Mexico territory.
In exchange, Texas will be given About 15 million bucks. The federal government would assume all of Texas's public debts. Slavery would not be abolished in Washington, D.C. But the slave trade would. He called for a strengthening of the Fugitive Slave Act.
And finally, Congress will make no law interfering with the slave trade between the slave states. He thought that he had Yeah. reached out to both sides. The moderates loved him. And people across the United States applauded Henry Clay once more for seeking compromise.
But it soon became very clear That Clay failed to appeal to the extremists. on both sides. Frederick Douglass called them a monster. Jeremiah Clemens of Alabama stated that it called for the unconditional surrender of the South. and its interests.
There would be no compromise from those fierce firebrands in the South. And at the head of that contingent was John Calhoun. The most vocal? and most prominent mouthpiece of southern slave owners in the country. About a month after Henry Clay made his pitch to the Senate, a very sick, feeble, frail.
and haggard John Calhoun. sixty seven years of age and dying, He entered the Senate. held up on either side by two fellow senators. One observer said he looked like he was so emaciated, pale, and cadaverous. that he was a fugitive from the grave.
But he went there that day. to give his thoughts on the crisis. He did, he believed, speak for the South. But he couldn't speak. He was too weak.
So he gave his speech to James Mason of Virginia. And Calhoun sat there, stone-faced, haggard, a heavy black cloak over his shoulders. while Mason read Calhoun's prepared remarks.
Now Calhoun, of course, we know, had always been very serious. The joke about John Calhoun is that he attempted to write a poem only once in his life. and it began with the word whereas.
Okay. He was highly intelligent, a graduate of Yale, with those gaunt cheeks and a long iron gray mane. And John Calhoun believed he was 100% right, 100% of the time. He stated that the South faced, the situation the South faced was critical. And he expressed his doubt that the two sides, north or south, Quote, so different and hostile could exist in one common union.
The impression is now very general and is on the increase that disunion is the only alternative left to the South. I have believed from the first that the agitation over slavery could end in this union, he said. The country was in danger, and it was the North's fault. And when we come back, more of this remarkable story, the story of the compromise of 1850, here on our American Stories. Tell me.
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Shh. You won't believe what my new friend just told me about dinosaurs! Is your child having conversations you never imagined? Are they learning without realizing it? It's not a tablet.
It's not a toy. It's Miko Mini Plus, the AI-powered companion that turns curiosity into endless learning. Hear the future of playtime. Meet the extraordinary Miko Mini Plus. Only at Costco.
I turned off news altogether. I hate to say it, but I don't trust much of anything. It's the rage bait. It feels like it's trying to divide people. If we got clear facts, maybe we could calm down a little.
NBC News brings you clear reporting. Let's meet at the facts. Let's move forward from there. NBC News reporting for America.
Hear that? That's what it sounds like when you plant more trees than you harvest. Work done by thousands of working forest professionals, like Adam, a district forest manager who works to protect our forests from fires. Keeping the forest fire-resistant is synonymous with keeping a forest healthy. And we do that through planting more than we harvest and mitigate those risks through active management.
It's a long-term commitment. Visit WorkingForestsInitiative.com to learn more. It's 1972. A young British family is attempting to sail around the world when disaster strikes. Their boat is hit by killer whales and it sinks in seconds.
All they have left is a life raft and each other. This is the true story of the Robertson family and their fight to survive, hosted by me, Becky Milligan. Listen to Adrift, an Apple original podcast produced by Blanchard House. Follow and listen on Apple podcasts. And we return to our American stories and the story of the Compromise of 1850.
When we last left off, John C. Calhoun, former Vice President John C. Calhoun, had taken the floor of the Senate to give a speech against the compromises proposed. by Henry Clay. Let's return to Calhoun's speech.
Here again is Gettysburg National Park Service Ranger John Hoptak. Now, Calhoun also expressed his fear That the North was becoming too powerful, the population was growing too big, the House was dominated by Northerners, and they are soon gonna take the Electoral College.
Now, he forgot the fact that during the first 62 years of the country's history, a slave owner was president for 50 of them. that chief justices of the Supreme Court were slave owners for 52 of those 62 years. Nevertheless, he felt that the government's legislation to outlaw slavery from the territories was too much. Slavery, he said, was essential. and natural.
It was the North who had to come up with a solution. And the North must rigorously enforce the Fugitive Slave Act. He then suggested the way to go about this. is a constitutional for amendment. that would forever guarantee sectional balance in the government.
And he even put forward a thought. of a dual presidency. a northern president and a southern president. Each had veto power. Calhoun died Just a month later.
News of his death was announced in the Senate, and there were the eulogies spoken. Clay and Daniel Webster, they spoke out favorably with Calhoun. But not Senator Thomas Hart Benton. Thomas Benton of Missouri declared that Calhoun is not dead. There may be no vitality in his body, but there is in his doctrines.
Calhoun died with treason in his heart and on his lips, and his disciples are now disseminating his poison. Calhoun believed that the country was indeed headed toward a Civil War. And that would come soon. that it would be as a result of a presidential election. And he was right.
But was the war inevitable? Daniel Webster hoped not.
Now, after John Calhoun gave his thoughts, all attention turned to the great Daniel Webster, the godlike Daniel of Massachusetts, as he was called. He was the very definition of an American statesman. The mouthpiece, not for the North or for the South, the mouthpiece. of America. And he had this great physical magnetism, the deep-set eyes, a very large head, and people claim that his head grew larger every single year.
He had a deep, melodious, operatic voice, and whenever he spoke, it was an event. He was a very gifted orator. but he drank heavily. And maybe it was because of a history of personal tragedy. His firstborn child died in 1817 at age seven.
He lost another son. At age three. His wife, Grace, died in 1828 at age 47. A beloved brother died the following year, and in 1848 his son Edward Died in Mexican War. To make matters worse, the very day that Edward Webster's body returned home for burial.
Daniel Webster's daughter, Julia, died of tuberculosis at the age of 30. Three days after Calhoun's speech was read, Daniel Webster stood up in the Senate. and he began his famous 7th of March speech. I speak today not as a Massachusetts man, not as a northern man. But as an American, Hear me from my cause.
I speak today for the restoration of that country and that harmony which makes the blessings of this union so rich and so dear to us all. He blamed the extremists on both sides for the current crisis. He stated that it was useless to debate slavery in the territories. It could never work. The law of nature, he said, the soil, the climate, the terrain of New Mexico would prohibit slavery from spreading there.
So why are we getting so worked up over this? I hear with pain and anguish the word secession. Secession! I would rather hear of natural blasts and mildews, war, pestilence, and famine than to hear of gentlemen talk of secession. Secession, he thundered, would lead to war, and he was determined to prevent that from happening.
And to that end, he will support Henry Clay's compromises. He also surprised many when he expressed his support for a stronger fugitive slave law. Dan Webster personally hated slavery. He once called it. unjust and repugnant to the natural equality of mankind.
But he was not willing to risk the Union to further attack it. Abolitionists up north. decried that. John Greenleaf Whittier in his poem Ichabod wrote, From those great eyes the soul has fled. When faith is lost, when honor dies, the man is dead.
Aside from the abolitionists, though, Webster's speech was hailed nationwide. Hope was entertained for compromise. There was still a long fight to go. Day after day, week after week, the debate and the argument went back and forth between Whigs and Democrats, Northerners and Southerners, Unionists. and those who made it clear they were ready to secede.
Senator Henry Foote of Mississippi declared that every day that we have sat here, deliberating, as we call it, agitating the question of slavery, we have placed this union in still greater peril.
Now, Henry Foote was 46 years of age, slight, short, Talkative, pugnacious. He had been in four duels. He was shot in three of them. He got into a fist fight with Jefferson Davis on Christmas Day, 1847. And in 1848, he got into a wrestling match on the Senate floor with Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania.
We think things are bad now. He was a fierce advocate of southern rights, but he was also a unionist. who sought compromise. And right after Daniel Webster's speech that called for compromise, Henry Foote had an idea. Why don't we package all of Henry Clay's ideas into a single bill?
We will call it the omnibus. named after a very popular form of urban transportation.
Okay, a lot of people from a lot of different social classes, male, female passengers, could all pile into the omnibus that traveled through the cities of this country. Henry Clay never planned for this. He wanted to trot out every one of his bills one at a time to be voted on separately. But Henry Foote was afraid that Zachary Taylor would use his Veto power. on anything except California.
Some uh like the idea.
some did not. Thomas Benton of Missouri. hated the idea. And he hated Henry Foote. Physically, the two men were opposites.
Benton was brawny and burly with a big thick frame. He was overbearing without fear. Foot. was more effeminate. But boy, he didn't hold back.
Things finally boiled over. After months of frustration, And on April 17th, Henry Foote unleashed a torrent of insults at Thomas Benton from the Senate floor. Benton had enough. He rose, he tossed his desk to the side, and he ran directly at foot. Henry Foote pulled a revolver from his uh Jacket.
Pointed it at Benton coming at him down the aisle, and Millard Fillmore, the vice president presiding over this, banging the gavel. Order, order. Two people are trying to hold Benton back. But he opened his shirt and he said, let the coward fire. Let the assassin fire.
Only cowards go armed. And Henry Foote is, he's saying, I only brought the gun for personal safety. I think he was right. But this happened on the floor of the Senate. And Daniel Webster is shaking his head.
He wrote, I am sorry for this country. That is what was happening in the Senate. Henry Foote. got his way. Henry Foote The day after this whole embarrassing episode on the Senate floor with pistols drawn, Finally, the Senate approved this omnibus plan.
But just like earlier. There were those immediately against it. And you've been listening to Gettysburg National Park Service Ranger John Hoptak telling us one heck of a yarn, one heck of a story. About the Compromise of 1850, the characters at play, the forces at play, the competing factions at play. More of the remarkable story of the fateful compromise of 1850 here.
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are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply. Then the space hamster flew his hot air balloon all the way to the bottom of the ocean. Where did that story come from? Book? Dream?
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Discover Miko Mini Plus and the magic of AI exclusively at Costco. I turned off news altogether. I hate to say it, but I don't trust much of anything. It's the rage bait. It feels like it's trying to divide people.
If we got clear facts, maybe we could calm down a little. NBC News brings you clear reporting. Let's meet at the facts. Let's move forward from there. NBC News reporting for America.
Hear that? That's what it sounds like when you plant more trees than you harvest. Work done by thousands of working forest professionals like Adam, a district forest manager who works to protect our forests from fires. Keeping the forest fire-resistant synonymous with keeping a forest healthy, and we do that through planting more than we harvest and mitigate those risks through active management. It's a long-term commitment.
Visit WorkingForestsInitiative.com to learn more. It's 1972. A young British family is attempting to sail around the world when disaster strikes. Their boat is hit by killer whales and it sinks in seconds. All they have left is a life raft and each other.
This is the true story of the Robertson family and their fight to survive, hosted by me, Becky Milligan. Listen to Adrift, an Apple original podcast produced by Blanchard House. Follow and listen on Apple podcasts. And we return to our American stories in the final portion of our story on the Compromise of 1850. when we last left off, after pistols had been drawn on the floor of the Senate, The omnibus of 1850 was approved, and the 19th And Texas had threatened to raise an army to claim the parts of New Mexico it wanted.
Let's return to the story, or rather. with New Mexico's response. The people of New Mexico said what? Try us. And they would repeatedly call on the military leader there, John Monroe.
to resist any effort Texas might make. Governor Peter Bell of Texas called upon the state legislature to raise and equip an army, and he is going to summon a friend of his, Robert Simpson Neighbors. Neighbors was told to ride west carrying copies of the Texas state constitution and making it known to anyone and to everyone that they and their land was now subject to Texas law.
Now, John Monroe, 60 years old, a native of Scotland, a hero of the Mexican War. Not only was he called upon by the people of New Mexico to resist any effort by Texas, but the administration in Washington had also instructed him to do the same. The battle lines are being drawn. And this was all happening the same time Foote and Benton are drawing pistols on each other in the Senate. Neighbors soon discovered the resolve of Monroe.
And neighbors also found out the resolve of the people of New Mexico. They were flatly against anything Texas. had in mind for them. They were also against slavery. Neighbors returned to Texas.
He was defeated. He was dejected in his plan. But he informed Governor Bell. that it might be best now to raise an army. And that's exactly what Bell intended to do.
As Monroe and his soldiers kept a nervous eye toward Texas, so too did many political and military leaders across the country. Alexander Stevens wrote a letter, an open letter, to the President of the United States, and it was printed on July 4th, of all days. in the National Intelligencer. The first Federal gun that shall be fired against the people of Texas will be the signal for the freemen from Delaware to the Rio Grande to rally to the rescue. When the Rubicon is passed, the days of the Republic will be numbered.
The cause of Texas will be the cause of the entire South. No wonder Henry Clay called this the crisis of the crisis. But if things could not get more stressful to the nation, In the literal midst of all this, The President of the United States died in office. Zachary Taylor attended an Independence Day ceremony at the Washington Monument. A broiling hot day.
They didn't have enough shade. And he didn't want to ask the ladies to move from their seats under the awnings.
So he sat in the sun for two straight hours. He went back to the White House that night and he gorged himself. on ice milk, cherries, and raw vegetables. And that night he got very sick. Within a week he was dead.
The nation mourned. And of course, members of Congress would use the event of the death of the President to call for harmony, for compromise. The day after Zachary Taylor died, Millard Fillmore will become president. Boy, I love to get a chance to talk about Millard Fillmore, right? Portly, handsome, dignified, and courteous with a very sharp analytical mind.
And let's not forget that as vice president, every single day he did what? He sat at the Senate sessions, but unlike Taylor, Fillmore was a lot more amenable to compromise. He inherited a mess. I know we oftentimes like to dismiss Millard Fillmore, you know, as one of the great unknown presidents, but imagine being in his shoes. He is for a compromise, and he began to fill his cabinet with like-minded individuals.
Henry Clay saw the death of Zachary Taylor. as a godsend. Hate to say it that way, but Zachary Taylor was a tremendous obstacle in Henry Clay's path. Finally, we could get this omnibus pass. He called upon his colleagues for their patriotic and moralistic sentiment.
He asked them to put their section behind. If a war does break out between Texas and the soldiers of the United States, there are ardent, enthusiastic spirits in Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama that will flock to the standards of Texas, contending as they believe they will be contending for slave territory. Who could say which side would prevail in such a fratricidal conflict? I believe from the bottom of my soul that the measure is the reunion of this union. It is the dove of peace which, taking flight from the capital, carries its glad tidings to all the remotest extremities of this land.
A thunderous Applause broke out from the Senate. A tour de force, a passionate, eloquent, tear-provoking speech. The omnibus. failed. On July 30th, An amendment was made to the omnibus.
That said, until we resolve the boundary between Texas and New Mexico, let us consider New Mexico under Texas authority. It passed. But a senator from Maryland rose up in opposition to this and he said, you know what? Why don't we remove anything pertaining to Texas from this omnibus? The floodgates open.
I propose to remove anything pertaining to California. Passed. I propose to remove anything pertaining to that Fugitive Slave Act. Passed. Plank by plank, everything was removed.
Thomas Benton and William Henry Seward danced with each other in the aisles of the Senate. And Henry Clay. who spoke no fewer than seventy times. rose from his seat, and quietly left the Senate. He went to Newport, Rhode Island, to recover his health.
This was killing him, literally killing him. But all was not yet lost. Because there was That steam engine in britches by the name of Senator Stephen Douglass. He had a powerful voice, but he kept it silent. throughout this entire debate.
He knew from the start, really. that this omnibus will fail. Because the omnibus is only going to unite the opponents of every bill.
So as they were debating and talking things over, Stephen Douglas went to every one of the members of the Senate and he began to ask them, so would you vote for California?
Okay. Would you vote for a stronger Fugitive Slave Act? All right. He knew the omnibus would fail. And when it did, he was ready to step up to the plate.
on the very next day, Stephen Douglass rose in the Senate and he put forward a proposal. To organize the government for Utah without slavery.
Okay, that's fine. It passed. He put forward another proposal on the Senate floor that would establish the boundary between Texas and New Mexico. Texas would relinquish its claims for government funding to assume its debts. And guess what?
It passed. He called for California to be admitted to the Union without slavery. And it passed. It was a miracle. Let's keep in mind a few things.
Me Millard Fillmore. And the new Secretary of State, Daniel Webster. They were talking to their Whigs in the Senate. I want you to stay home tomorrow. from the vote.
Oh, would you like a government position? Then why don't you go ahead and vote for that Fugitive Slave Act?
So Stephen Douglas is rallying Democratic support for each of Henry Clay's bills, while Millard Fillmore and Daniel Webster are doing the same thing for the Whigs. On August 26th, a strengthened Fugitive Slave Act was passed. 15 northern senators did not show up that day to cast a vote. It passed by a vote of 27 to 12. when there were sixty senators.
Finally, of slave trade in DC would be abolished. 33 to 19. It was really quite amazing. After seven months of debate. With the nation on the verge of war, that Stephen Douglas, only 36 years old, stood and said, okay.
Let's try these bills one at a time. And by mid-September, all of Henry Clay's ideas were passed. When Henry Clay returned from Newport, Rhode Island, probably couldn't believe what was happening. Compromise at last. 10 straight months, 302 consecutive days of argument, threats, and all of this was over.
The 31st Congress finally adjourned on September 30th of 1850. They had been in session from December 2nd of 1849 to September 30th of 1850 without break. It was the longest congressional session ever. Daniel Webster wrote, we have now gone through the most important crisis which has occurred since the foundation of this government. and the Union stands firm.
But Was it really a triumph? Henry Clay died on June 29, 1852. And so too did the spirit of compromise. These debates in 1850 and the effort to ultimately avoid war in 1850 is unsurpassed. in American history, 10 straight months of deliberation and argument.
And while we're today We don't always empathize with the views of Clay and Webster and even Zach Taylor, especially with their support, Clay and Webster, of that Fugitive Slave Act. Their courage. and the stand that they took to save the nation mattered. The rancorous debates that define the 31st Congress The statesmen prevailed, and by doing so, they saved the Union a few crucial years. What would have happened if Civil War broke out in 1850?
Who would have led the country? Millard Fillmore? Who would have led the armies? The Compromise of 1850 provided the United States another 10 years. To find a statesman.
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