1847-1850[]
July 28, 1847: Henry Clay dies suddenly of a heart attack.
August 12-20, 1847: Winfield Scott's troops continue victories in Mexico.
January 24, 1848: Gold is found at Sutter's Mill, California, soon causing the California Gold Rush.
February 2, 1848: Treaty of Guadeloupe-Hidalgo is signed, giving the United States a lot of land and ending the Mexican-American War.
May 22, 1848: The Democrats hold their convention in Baltimore. With a nomination which could determine the party's stance on western slavery, Lewis Cass is chosen as the Democratic Candidate, and William Orlando Butler is chosen as his running mate.
June 7, 1848: The Whigs hold their convention in Philadelphia. With the death of Henry Clay and dwindling power of the Whigs, they nominate Zachary Taylor, a war hero, to try to appeal to the nationalism created from the Mexican-American War. Daniel Webster would be his running mate.
July 19, 1848: The Seneca Falls Convention is held in favor of womens' rights and suffrage.
November 7, 1848: The Election of 1848. Lewis Cass wins due to his decisive plans on western slavery and wavering support for the Whigs without Henry Clay.
March 3, 1849: The Gold Coinage Act is passed, and the Department of the Interior is established.
March 4, 1849: Lewis Cass is inaugurated.
March 10, 1849: In a joint session of Congress, Lewis Cass announces his plan for popular sovereignty in the west. He also hints that popular sovereignt is an extension of states' rights, characterizing the territories as "each acting as individual states, voting as one territory". This appeals to the pro-slavery people.
April 28, 1849: John Davis, a Massachusetts Whig, announces that he has switched parties to the Free Soil party following the defeat of the Whigs and the issue of popular sovereignty. What would ensue is the collapse of the Whig party by 1851, and the prominence of the Free Soil Party as the anti-slavery party and the Democratic Party as the pro-slavery party.
October 18, 1849: California applies for stetehood as a free state.
October 25, 1849: The Wilmot Proviso is put to vote in congress for a third time. It passes in the House but fails in the Senate.
October 28, 1849: The Alabama Plan is put to vote but fails to reach a majority in the House of Representatives.
October 30, 1849: William Wick proposes an extension of the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific Ocean.
December 7, 1849: Thomas Hart Benton proposes a major reduction in the size of Texas as the solution.
December 8, 1849: William Wick's proposal fails to pass the House of Representatives.
December 22, 1849: Thomas Hart Benton's proposal reaches a tie in the Senate. Vice President William Orlando Butler votes against the bill, causing it to not pass the Senate.
January 12, 1850: Lewis Cass proposes the California Compromise. It holds that:
- California will be admitted as a free state.
- Texas will be split into two slave states, the second balancing out the acceptance of California. The border of these being the Colorado River of Texas, and the Northern border of both being the 34°30' line.
- The territory these two states gave up would result in debt relief for Texas, and the remaining land formerly belonging to Texas would make up a new territory.
- All territories which had not yet decided on the issue of slavery would be allowed to vote for themselves, operating on popular sovereignty
February 9, 1850: Stephen Douglas proposes that the Compromise be voted on as several separate bills.
February 11, 1850: Daniel Webster gives a speech endorsing the Compromise, which he calls the "California Compromise". This speech is vital to gain the support of the remaining Whigs.
February 20, 1850: California is accepted into the Union as a free state.
February 22, 1850: A bill to massively reduce Texas' borders to be only the new Southern state in exchange for debt relief passes.
February 27, 1850: A bill allowing the people of territories to vote n the issue of slavery within their territory passes congress, causing Popular Sovereignty to take effect.
February 28, 1850: The new state of Jefferson applies for statehood.
March 2, 1850: Jefferson is accepted into the Union as a slave state.
March 19, 1850: The Free Soil Party declares that its new name is the Republican Party, as a result of a merge with the Whigs. Some Whigs switch to the Democratic Party, some stay with the Republican Party.