Can There Be a Compromise of Slavery?

US History - Failure of Compromise, 1848-61

In this course, Professor Nicole Etcheson (Ball State University) explores the failures of compromise between North and South during the 1850s. In the first module, we examine the question of whether there could be a compromise on slavery at all. After this, we explore the finality of compromise in the early 1950s by looking at the Wilmot Proviso, the Fugitive Slave Law and political change in the period. From there, we look at whether there was a Slave Power conspiracy in the 1850s by looking at the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the caning of Charles Sumner, Bleeding Kansas, and the setting up of filibuster governments in the period. In the next modules, we explore the presidency of James Buchanan in more detail, exploring the Dred Scott decision, the Utah Territory, the Lecompton Constitution, and the late 1850s economic depression. In the final modules, we look at whether there was an abolitionist conspiracy during the 1850s, exploring the Lincoln-Douglas debates, the raid on Harpers Ferry by John Brown, and the election of 1860.

Can There Be a Compromise of Slavery?

In this module, we examine the question of whether there could be a compromise on slavery at all. In particular, we look at: (i) how slavery was dealt with from the signing of the Constitution to the 1950s, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850; (ii) the Compromise of 1850, including what changes it enacted and how it was passed; (iii) the Fugitive Slave Act and how it was strengthened in 1850; and (iv) the growth in both pro- and anti- slavery arguments.