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This is a TL under construction, created by Vatonica. Anyone can help out, just message me.
Point of Divergence[]
On July 28th, 1847, Henry Clay dies of a sudden heart attack. This has two main immediate effects: It causes a faster decline of the Whigs, and it causes the Compromise of 1850 to change. Though it is just a man dying five years earlier than in OTL, it changes the course of history.
History[]
In the Election of 1848, the Free Soilers were in favor of the Wilmot Proviso, the Democrats were generally in favor of the Alabama Plan (though some preferred popular sovereignty), and the Whigs advocated some sort of a middle ground. Some proposed compromises included: John Bell's plan to have California admitted and have New Mexico and part of Texas become three states, with two slave states and one free state; William Wick's proposal to extend the Missouri Compromise line all the way to the west coast; Zachary Taylor's proposal to make California larger and accept New Mexico as two large free states, and avoid the issue of slavery in the territories; another proposal admitting California as a free state but allowing slavery in the territories; and a final proposal which included the fugitive slave law and slavery in the territories in it, creating a complete compromise.
As the Whigs argued over which proposal, and therefore which candidate, was the best, they began to turn against each other, and when they decided on a stronger anti-slavery Zachary Taylor as their candidate, the Democrats decided to nominate Lewis Cass, in favor of popular sovereignty, to compromise on this subject but side with the South on most other topics.
Cass narrowly won the election, somewhat as a result of the Free Soil Party taking states away from the Whigs. Under Cass, California would be admitted as a free state, Texas' borders would be required to remain the same, and all territories would be able to vote on the issue of slavery. Democrats viewed this as a victory for "states' rights", expanding states to territories. This loss in the election would lead to the collapse of the Whig Party, and further pro-slavery government in the leadup to the Civil War, causing a Confederate victory after successfully convincing Europe that the South had the right to secede.
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