HY 101 Chapter Notes - Chapter Chapter 18: Missouri Compromise, James Gadsden, Ostend Manifesto
Document Summary
Popular sovereignty: the idea that the people of a territory should determine their territory"s status of slavery. It was popular with politicians because it was a compromise between the abolitionists and the slaveholders. At the democratic national convention at baltimore, the democrats chose general lewis cass, a veteran of the war of 1812, as their candidate for presidency. Cass was not against slavery; he supported popular sovereignty. The whigs, who met in philadelphia, chose zachary taylor as their candidate for presidency. Taylor did not have an official stance on slavery, but he did own many slaves. Henry clay had not been chosen because he had too many enemies. The free soil party was created by antislavery men of the north who didn"t trust cass or taylor. They argued that with slavery, wage labor would wither away and with it, the chance for the american worker to own property. Zachary taylor won the election of 1848 (sworn into office in 1849).
