Election of 1848 and Compromise of 1850

Dear Diary,
Today I overheard my dad telling his friends how he is worried about the election this year. He thinks that with popular sovereignty, the new territories will become slave states. From what I understand, popular sovereignty lets the territories choose whether they want to be slave or free states. I think the new territories will do what is right and choose to be free states. My dad thinks that slavery is bad, but he worries that if too many black men come to the north then he might get put out of a job. Jeanette thinks it is crazy to let black people work for a normal wage. She thinks they are below us just because they have different color skin. Daddy voted for Governor Lewis Cass today. I hope he wins because I don't like that Mr. Taylor has slaves.
                                                         That's all for now Diary,
                                                               Rebecca


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Dear Diary,
Mr. Taylor was elected president. According to my dad, he did not win by much. I was glad to hear that the Free-Soil Party did get 10% of the votes. I think that if I could vote, I would vote for them. I really like the fact that they do not support slavery. My cousin thinks it is crazy to let the slaves go free. Here is a photo of President Taylor:

I just heard about the Compromise of 1850. Supposedly, Senator Clay came up with compromise. There are five main parts from what I understand.
1) Congress lets California enter the union as a free state.
2) New Mexico and Utah territories get to decide how they want to enter the union based off of popular sovereignty.
3) Slave trade has ended in Washington D.C., but not slavery.
4) Congres must past a stricter fugitive slave law.
5) Texas has now given up its claim to New Mexico in return for $10 million.

The new fugitive slave act that came out of the compromise has had a huge impact in the north.The new updates to the law now make it where if a citizen helps a fugitive slave, they can be fined or imprisoned. Even the people that have fought for their freedom are being taken back to be slaves again. I do not support the new law. My dad thinks that it is not right to take them back. Jeanette has been awful lately. She has been trying to get the bounty hunters to take even the free black men in our area. we have grown apart because of what is happening lately in politics. We never see eye to eye anymore.
                                                          That's all for now Diary,
                                                                Rebecca


Zachary Taylor. N.d. History. Web. 22 Jan. 2016.
      <http://cdn.history.com/sites/2/2013/12/taylor-
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