Sectionalism Senatorial Debates

1. Sectionalism Senatorial Debates Sectional

2. How A Bill Becomes Law Review

3. You are a senator from… • The North • Massachusetts • New York • Penn • Ohio • New Jersey • The West • Kentucky • Missouri • Arkansas • The South • South Carolina • Virginia • Tennessee • Georgia • Maryland

4. Setting the Stage • You are Senators in the 1850s • Many hot topic issues are being discussed and debated between groups from different U.S. regions • The Industrial Revolution is at its height • The population is exploding • 10 million Northerners • 9.7 million in the South (counting slaves) • 2 million in the West • Slavery is expanding • New slave states formed South of the 36 30 line including Tennessee and Alabama • The West is expanding • Your role as a Senator in today’s Congressional session is to represent your region by discussing, debating, and voting on different bills.

5. Setting the Stage • You are Senators in the 1850s • Each region has a leader who will oversee group discussion and prep for the debate: Clay (Kentucky), Calhoun (South Carolina) and Webster (Massachusetts) • Henry Clay of Kentucky leading the West is….. • Daniel Webster of Massachusetts leading the North is… • John C. Calhoun leading the South is….

6. For each bill… • You will be provided with the basic content of the bill by the leader of the Senate. • Your group will debate your general vote and then the whole class will debate before the final vote. • Your region will try to “talk” the other regions into supporting your vote.

7. Rules/Grades for Debate • You will earn points for three tasks: • Making at least 2 thoughtful comments each day of the debate…. Track it on your paper. • Listening while others share their comments • Displaying RESPECT but also PASSION during the debate so that environment is lively and realistic. YOUR LEARNING GOAL: Ultimately, you should be examining the interests of all 3 sections of the US.

8. Issue 1: The Homestead Bill • After winning Texas from the Mexicans, to encourage the growth of Texas to apply for statehood, the homestead act allowed Americans who had never owned slaves to apply for a tract of land called a “homestead” which typically consisted of 160 at little or no cost. • As part of the bill, when enough farmers had settled in Texas, they had to use the concept of popular sovereignty to determine whether or not the state could become a free or slave state. • Poor farmers from the South, the North and the West promise to flock to the land all with their differing opinions of slavery and fights have already broken out around the nation with the different ideas of how slavery should be determined. • In the South, large plantation owners prepare to send their “poor farmer friends” to buy land so they can spread slavery and cotton farming as far west as possible. • In fact, at least one duel between Northern anti-slave abolitionists and Southern pro-slavery advocates have broken out. • Will your state the approve the Homestead Act that sells cheap land and requires the use of popular sovereignty? • Things to Consider: • Specifically, how will the cheap land sales affect your region’s economy and jobs? • What does your region think about letting using popular sovereignty to settle the slavery dispute in this area? • Do you worry about what the government will have to do if this breaks into larger scale violence? • What are the consequences of practically giving away the land if lots of immigrants move?

9. One Spokesperson from your region should be prepared to start the debate by saying… I am Senator ______ from the region of _____________ • We are FOR/AGAINST the ___________________ Bill because… • Reason One: • Reason Two:

10. The vote for the Homestead Act… • For: ____________ • Against: _____________ • Result: Approved or Rejected

11. Issue 2: War with Mexico Bill including Wilmot Proviso • Texas has become a US state in the US. Mexico is furious and disputes the borders. They want to protect as much of their land as possible. • The border dispute centers on two rivers. The US claim the Rio Grande River as their border, but the the Mexicans claim the border is at the Nueces River. Both the Mexicans and the Americans send troops to the disputed area. Shots are fired. • President Polk asks Congress to approve a declaration of war that authorized 50,000 volunteers and $10 million dollars on the basis that Mexico had started the hostilities even though that was not what evidence showed. • States’ rights supporters felt it was unconstitutional for a President decide if it was a war – that was the job of Congress. • But, if Americans won, not only would they settle the border dispute, they could probably also gain all the land to the Pacific Ocean. • And gold was found in the land the Mexicans call Californio. Americans are in a race to settle in the land. • One provision of the bill added by David Wilmot of Pennsylvania says that: Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of any territory from gained in acquisition through treaty with the Republic of Mexico by the United States, except for crime, whereof the party shall first be duly convicted • Will your state approve this act of war against Mexico which includes the Wilmot Proviso? • Things to consider when prepping your debate. • What impact will this have on your region? • Is the Federal Government ready for the cost of war? • Is it Constitutional for the bill to forbid slavery? • What are the costs of war to each region? • How could the gold benefit your region?

12. One Spokesperson from your region should be prepared to start the debate by saying… We the region of _____________ • Are FOR/AGAINST the ___________________ Bill because… • Reason One: • Reason Two:

13. War with Mexico Bill • For: ____________ • Against: _____________ • Result: Approved or Rejected

14. Issue 3: The Gadsen Purchase Bill • America controls almost all the land from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean as a result of winning the war with Mexico. There’s one small strip of land in the Southern edge of Arizona that needs to be American in order to build a transcontinental railroad from sea to shining sea. A congressman named James Gadsenwas sent to Mexico to broker a deal. • Mexico has agreed to sell the land to the US for $15 million dollars. The US government plans to implement a COSTLY tariff on British goods to fund the purchase. The tariff would raise the price of British manufactured goods that come to America and raise money too. • Things to Consider when prepping your debate. Will this benefit your region? What are the negative consequences that this bill will have on the states in your regions? What will be done about slavery in this region? How will the tariff affect the cost of goods you purchase? How will it affect your business?

15. The Gadsen Purchase

16. One Spokesperson from your region should be prepared to start the debate by saying… We the region of _____________ • Are FOR/AGAINST the ___________________ Bill because… • Reason One: • Reason Two:

17. The Vote • For: ____________ • Against: _____________ • Result: Approved or Rejected

18. Issue 4: Write your own Economic Depression Bill • Farmers in the west have over produced wheat for several years in a row. This as resulted in wheat prices dropping significantly. Then, a dust storm through the west rolls in as a result a lack of rainfall and many farms are destroyed. • As a result of this banks have had to foreclose on many farms, especially in the West. • Banks have lost a great deal of money on the foreclosed farms and have little funds to loan to business to update to the latest technologies. • In your regions, create a bill that will help the struggling economy of our nation. • You will be writing this and then presenting it to the Senate for debate. • When making the bill consider these things: • How will this benefit my region? • How will it benefit or hurt other regions? • Will other regions vote in favor of this bill or reject this bill?

19. Spokesperson should present their bill… We the region of _____________ • Our bill is called the _____________________ and here are the provisions: • You should support this bill because….

20. The Vote: One bill must be approved • The West Region’s Bill: Approved or Rejected • The South Region’s Bill: Approved or Rejected • The North Region’s Bill: Approved or Rejected

21. Debrief and Reflect • Take the next 10 minutes to complete the Sectional Target Chart. • Let’s share results on the board. • Can you add to the results? • What issues are most confusing to you? • What issues do you think are the most divisive? • Do you think it would be better to divide into three countries or try to continue to work to unify? Why?

22. Massachusetts North

23. New York North

24. Pennsylvania North

25. Ohio North

26. New Jersey North

27. Kentucky WEST

28. Missouri WEST

29. Arkansas WEST

30. Virginia South

31. South Carolina South

32. Maryland South

33. Georgia South

34. Louisiana South

35. North Carolina South