Chapter 66: Congressional Profile: 1852-1856

The primary mover and shaker in the 34^th and 35^th Congresses is Senator Stephen Douglas, intent on “organizing” the Nebraska Territory west of Chicago.

To do so, however, he must first gain support among the six member Committee on Territories that he chairs. Five of them are fellow Democrats and slave-holders. Robert W. Johnson belongs to a leading family in Arkansas and has 193 slaves at the time. Both John Bell of Tennessee and Douglas himself have large plantations and many slaves. George Jones of Iowa reportedly owns seven slaves and Sam Houston of Texas owns twelve. The lone outlier here is Edward Everett the Massachusetts’ Whig.

Douglas must also deal with other powerful Southerners such as the Virginians Robert Hunter and James Mason, Albert Butler of South Carolina and Pierce’s Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis – all intent on insuring that slavery is sanctioned in the western territories, and all seeking guarantees beyond those in the 1850 Compromise. Douglas tries over two years to win them over, before finally crafting his controversial 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act which becomes law after narrowly passing in the House.

Congressional opposition to this Act comes from a variety of sources, including three members of Douglas’ Committee, Everett and two Southerners – Bell and Houston – who all fear that the Act will lead to civil war (which it does).

They are joined by the majority wing of the Free Soil Party who, like David Wilmot and James Henry Lane, simply want to preserve the west for white men by excluding all blacks, slave or free.

Then there are those groups who oppose expanding slavery on moral grounds.

Some here are radical abolitionists – Joshua Giddings, John Hale, George Julien, Thad Stevens, Ben Wade, Henry Seward, Salmon Chase, Charles Sumner and newcomer Henry Wilson – who seek immediate freedom and citizenship for all blacks nationwide.

Most, however, are much less confrontational, including freshmen like Cadwallader Washburn of Wisconsin, Ohio’s John Sherman, Lyman Trumbull of Illinois, Iowa’s James Harlan, and Henry Winter Davis of Maryland, the latter another slave owner troubled by his own historical actions. These men share the almost universal beliefs about black inferiority and fear the thought of 4 million freedmen let loose at once, possibly to seek violent revenge. Instead of total emancipation, their goal is to “contain” slavery in the Old South and hope that becomes sufficient to prevent disunion.

The debates in Congress over the 1854 Act also rekindle interest in “colonization,” the notion of returning freed slaves back to their original homes in Africa. Henry Clay initiates this idea way back in 1817, and it is now revived by moderates like Hamilton Fish, Edward Bates, members of the Blair family and even Abraham Lincoln, who believes that anti-black prejudices will never allow assimilation into white society. But “colonization” goes nowhere, for a lack of funds to compensate owners for freeing their slaves, and for opposition voiced by leaders like Frederick Douglass and Henry Seward who argue that the proper home for blacks is now America.

Another congressional newcomer who will play an important role in upcoming events is James Henry Lane of Kansas. Like David Wilmot, Lane regards all blacks as savages, cares not at all about freeing them, and wants the west to be left exclusively to white men. In 1853 he enters the House from Indiana, serving a single term before heading off to Kansas to fight on behalf of the Free State forces. He is known as “The Grim Chieftain” and, along with John Brown, commands the “Jayhawker Militia” in a series of vicious raids and open warfare. He then presides over the 1855 Topeka Convention which passes a Constitution designating Kansas as a Free State and excluding all blacks from residing within its borders. In 1861 Lane returns to Congress as one of Kansas’ first Senators.

During Pierce’s term, the South also adds its share of pro-slavery advocates. From South Carolina come Preston Brooks, who nearly murders Charles Sumner with his cane on the floor of the Senate in 1856, and Lawrence Keitt, who acts as his accomplice. Two Mississippi Fire-eaters fan the flames for secession. One is William Barksdale who starts a brawl with the Washburn brothers in 1858. The other is John Quitman, owner of four plantations and over 300 slaves, hero of the Mexican War, and ex-Governor of his home state. As Chairman of the Military Affairs Committee, Quitman supports the expansion of slavery into Cuba and Central America. Yale graduate Judah Benjamin of Louisiana joins David Yulee as only the second Jewish member of Congress. Benjamin is a very successful lawyer and plantation owner in New Orleans who later becomes Secretary of War and State for the CSA.

As the 34^th Congress begins its third and final session in December 1856, the North-South conflict over the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the future of slavery is nearing a breaking point.