CHAPTER XLI.
Administrations of Taylor and Fillmore, 1849-1853.
THE new President was a Virginian by birth, a soldier by profession. During the war of 1812 he distinguished himself in the Northwest. In the Seminole War he bore a part, but earned his greatest renown in Mexico. His administration began with a violent agitation on the question of slavery in the territories.
Slavery in the Territories.
2. In his first message the President advised the people of California to prepare for admission into the Union. The advice was promptly accepted. A convention was held at Monterey in September of 1849. A constitution prohibiting slavery was framed, submitted to the people, and adopted.
Zachary Taylor.
3. When the question of admitting California came before Congress the members were sectionally divided. The admission of the new State was favored by the representatives of the North, and opposed by those of the South. The latter claimed that, with the extension of the Missouri Compromise to the Pacific, the right to introduce slavery into California was guaranteed by the general government, and that therefore the proposed constitution of the State ought to be rejected. The reply of the North was that the Missouri Compromise had respect only to the Louisiana purchase, and that the Californians had framed their constitution in their own way.