399. “The Underground Railroad.”—There was also organized a system to assist fugitives to escape to Canada, where they could not be arrested. Stations were established, generally at private houses, where runaway slaves could be concealed in the daytime and helped forward to the next station in the night. The founder of this system was Levi Coffin, a Quaker living near Philadelphia, who for several years helped into freedom as many as one hundred slaves a year. This system, known as the “Underground Railroad,” gradually extended from the East as far west as the Missouri river. Thus, while the Fugitive Slave Law greatly inflamed the North, the ways in which it was frustrated greatly inflamed the South.
400. New Leaders.—Soon after the passage of this obnoxious law, Calhoun, Clay, and Webster died. They were succeeded in influence by younger men, of more strenuous beliefs and methods. Of these William H. Seward of New York, Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, and Salmon P. Chase of Ohio were prominent representatives of the anti-slavery element, while Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, Jefferson Davis of Mississippi, William L. Yancey of Alabama, and Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia were the most influential leaders on the other side.
INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC AFFAIRS.
401. The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty.—Although the Compromise of 1850 overshadows every other event of the period covered by this chapter, it should not absorb the student’s entire attention. Early in General Taylor’s administration, certain international affairs of importance became pressing. In 1826, the matter of a ship canal across Nicaragua or Panama had been advocated by Henry Clay. “The benefits of such a canal,” Clay wrote, “ought not to be exclusively appropriated to any one nation, but should be extended to all parts of the globe.” In the course of the following twenty years, Jackson and Polk often reverted to the subject in the same general spirit. When John M. Clayton of Delaware entered upon his duties as Taylor’s Secretary of State, he found that the question demanded immediate consideration, for the reason that two capitalists, one American and one British, were contemplating the construction of such a canal across Nicaragua. The result was that on April 19, 1850, what is known as the “Clayton-Bulwer Treaty” was signed in Washington by Secretary Clayton and Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, the British Minister. The treaty provided that the two powers should guarantee the neutrality and security of the canal when completed, and they invited all friendly states to enter into similar stipulations with them, “for the benefit of mankind, on equal terms to all.” This treaty was afterward to be the subject of not a little embarrassment (§ [680]).
402. Railways and Steamships.—The passage of the Compromise of 1850 seemed to promise peace with regard to slavery; but the aid given by the South to attempts to conquer Cuba, especially those of Narciso Lopez,[[180]] proved to thoughtful minds that sectional strife had been allayed, not completely suppressed. Yet even then American industry and enterprise were forging links of union against which sectional strife could not long prevail. Before 1852, over ten thousand miles of railway track had been laid in the United States, mainly in New England, the Middle states, and the Northwest. The New York and Erie road became a rival of the famous Erie Canal, and its completion in the spring of 1851 was the occasion of a Railway Jubilee, which was attended by Fillmore and his Cabinet. Later in the year, a similar celebration was held in Boston. On the ocean, also, speedier transportation was obtained. The British Cunard Line and the American Collins Line ran races for Europe, and travel was considerably stimulated. On the inland waters navigation increased rapidly; but, owing to a lack of proper inspection, many steamers took fire and great loss of life ensued. The spread of the telegraph over the country also brought distant points into contact in a way that would have been deemed incredible a generation before.
403. Kossuth’s Visit.—The great growth in population, the acquisition of vast territories, the surprising industrial and commercial development, were not only uniting the people of America, but were stimulating their emotional nature. The quiet, staid country of two generations before no longer existed. Popular furores became possible and a love of the spectacular was developed. Barnum, the showman, laid the foundations of his fortune. Newspapers rivaled one another in securing news quickly. International yacht races were begun. Distinguished men went on lecture tours through the country. Great authors and actors came from abroad to receive American hospitality and applause. There were women’s rights conventions and agitations in behalf of temperance.[[181]] But all these elements of excitement were thrown into the shade by the visit of Louis Kossuth, the great Hungarian orator who had vainly attempted to secure the independence of his native land and was now an exile. Invited by Congress, Kossuth late in 1851 reached the United States, on the man-of-war Mississippi. He was received with an enthusiasm unequaled in our history, save on the occasion of Lafayette’s visit. Receptions were given him in all the chief cities, and he astonished his hearers by the ease and power with which he spoke English. But he made the mistake of trying to persuade the people that the policy of non-interference in European affairs, established by Washington, was an erroneous one. A few politicians, for party purposes, seconded his proposal that the United States should intervene in behalf of Hungary. But the nation at large held aloof from him; the novelty of his visit wore off; and the great orator returned to Europe a disappointed man.
Franklin Pierce.
404. The Campaign of 1852.—The next excitement was caused by the Presidential campaign. The Democratic convention held at Baltimore,—the most convenient convention city in those days,—after much balloting, set aside the chief candidates, Cass of Michigan, Douglas of Illinois, Buchanan of Pennsylvania, and Marcy of New York, and chose General Franklin Pierce[[182]] of New Hampshire, a man who hitherto had attracted little attention. He had served in the Mexican War, and was upright in character; but he possessed a mind little capable of guiding the country in the great crisis that was approaching. His friendship with Jefferson Davis and other Southern leaders foretold his alliance with the advocates of slavery; but as people thought the slavery question settled by the Compromise of 1850, this did not interfere with his chances at the polls. William R. King of Alabama was nominated for Vice President, and the Democrats went into the campaign with great hopes of success. On the other hand, the Whigs were divided and depressed. After a hard struggle, Fillmore—who had made many enemies by signing the Fugitive Slave Law—and Daniel Webster had to yield the nomination to General Winfield Scott, who was far from popular. Shortly afterward, the deaths of Clay and Webster (who was bitterly disappointed and hostile to Scott) robbed the party of its real leaders; important Southern Whigs held aloof from Scott; the Free Soil party put up candidates of its own; and the hero of the march to Mexico was badly beaten by a younger and inferior man. Pierce had two hundred and fifty-four electoral votes to Scott’s forty-two. The ambiguous attitude of the Whigs toward the slavery question had hopelessly split the party asunder. Scott’s personal unpopularity also partly accounts for the overwhelming character of the defeat suffered by the Whigs; and doubtless there was a general desire to give the Compromise a fair chance under the Democrats, who heartily favored it.