I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.”ĭuring the Presidential election of 1860, southern leaders were primed to secede, even though Abraham Lincoln was a relative moderate on the slave question. That year Lincoln famously said “A house divided against itself can not stand. Senate seat in 1858 were significant in that they articulated the issue of slavery in America and brought Abraham Lincoln to national prominence. The seven Lincoln-Douglas debates over Illinois’ U.S. Such debates were exacerbated by the economic, cultural and social differences between North and South. The question of whether or not new states should be free, allow slaves, or vote on the issue themselves (Stephen Douglas’s “popular sovereignty”) was a continuing Congressional and public argument.
Fear of possible slave insurrections was palpable, especially in the many areas where black slaves outnumbered the white population. A number of compromises were tried but emotions ran high.
Zealous abolitionists wanted a complete end to slavery in America while most slave owners thought slavery should have no restrictions. Voters had lived in California less than 15 years and opinions on the Constitution, states rights, democracy and slavery reflected life in their original home communities.ĭebates in Congress and other forums over whether slavery should be expanded into new territories heated up in the 1850s. California’s white population increased from about 15,000 in 1848 to 380,000 in 1860 which reflected immigrants coming for the great Gold Rush (1848-50), the silver bonanza of 1859 and the state’s many opportunities.
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When California became the 31st state in 1850, it tilted the number of free states over slave states by 16 to 15.Ĭalifornia was still an unformed frontier region, with San Francisco by far the largest city in the West. California had been part of the country’s fractional debates from its start. The 1860s were a turbulent time for Americans, as Civil War devastated the country and roiled California politics.
The Lincoln Era in California and the San Ramon Valley By Beverly Lane
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