Congress and the Crisis of the 1850s

Beyond the Balance Rule

80 Matthew฀Glassman Beyond the Balance Rule Congress, Statehood, and Slavery, – In February 1859 the U.S. House of Representatives voted on S. 239, an฀Act฀to฀Admit฀Oregon฀to฀the฀Union,฀which฀had฀passed฀the฀Senate฀the฀ previous March by a vote of 35 to 17.1 ฀At฀the฀time฀of฀the฀vote,฀members฀of฀ the฀House฀knew฀one฀crucial฀piece฀of฀information:฀Oregon฀was฀going฀to฀be฀ a free state.2 ฀As฀part฀of฀the฀referendum฀on฀their฀new฀constitution฀in฀November฀ 1857฀and฀in฀accordance฀with฀the฀general฀principles฀of฀the฀Kansas-Nebraska฀ Act,฀voters฀in฀the฀Oregon฀Territory฀had฀been฀given฀a฀choice฀on฀slavery฀in฀ the future state, and had chosen to be a free state by a vote of 7,727 (75 percent ) to 2,645 (25 percent).3 The admission vote in the House was close, 114 in favor and 103฀against.฀Two฀days฀later,฀President฀Buchanan฀signed฀the฀bill฀ and฀Oregon฀became฀the฀thirty-third฀state.4 ฀ If ฀you฀knew฀nothing฀about฀the฀admission฀vote,฀but฀you฀knew฀something฀ about฀slavery,฀the฀balance฀rule,฀and฀politics฀of฀the฀antebellum฀era,฀you฀might฀ assume฀that฀the฀Oregon฀admission฀vote฀was฀on฀sectional฀lines,฀with฀north1 Senate Journal, 35th฀Cong.,฀1st sess., May 18, 1858, p. 477. 2 The Senate knew the same at the time of their vote, the previous March. 3 Voters฀were฀given฀separate฀choices฀on฀the฀ballot฀in฀which฀one฀question฀asked฀them฀to฀approve or disapprove of the proposed constitution and a second question asked them to vote for or฀against฀slavery.฀The฀constitution฀was฀approved฀by฀a฀similar฀vote฀to฀the฀slave฀vote,฀7,195 (69%) to 3,215 (31%).฀A฀third฀question฀on฀the฀ballot฀asked฀about฀voting฀and฀residency฀rights฀of฀ free blacks, and this vote was soundly defeated, 8,640 (89%)฀against฀and฀1,081 (11%) in favor. See฀Charles฀H.฀Carey,฀“The฀Creation฀of฀Oregon฀as฀a฀State,”฀Oregon Historical Quarterly 26 (1925): 281;฀Grupo฀de฀Investigadores฀Puertorriquenõs,฀Breakthrough from Colonialism: An Interdisciplinary Study of Statehood, 1st ed., 2 vols. (Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, 1984); Earl S. Pomeroy, The Pacific Slope: A History of California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, and Nevada (Seattle, 1973). 4 11 Stat. 383 (1859). Beyond the Balance Rule 81 ern฀representatives฀supporting฀it฀and฀southern฀representatives฀opposing฀ it.฀You฀might฀further฀conjecture฀that฀Republicans฀were฀most฀supportive,฀ southern Democrats most opposed, and northern Democrats mostly supportive , with anti-Lecompton Democrats perhaps more supportive than pro-Lecompton฀Democrats.฀You฀might฀also฀assume฀that฀a฀slave฀state฀also฀ was฀awaiting฀admission. ฀ On฀all฀these฀counts,฀you฀would฀be฀wrong.฀The฀actual฀vote฀was:฀northern฀ members, 73–71 against admission, southern members 42–18 in favor of admission . The party breakdown was: northern Democrats 56–2 in favor, southern Democrats 42–18 in favor, and Republicans 71–15 against admission.5 Heading ฀into฀the฀Wnal months of the slave crisis, the southern Democrats defeated the Republicans so that they could bring a free state into the Union. The admission฀also฀furthered฀the฀sectional฀skew฀in฀the฀Senate:฀Oregon฀became฀ the฀eighteenth฀free฀state,฀and฀Wfteen฀slave฀states฀were฀in฀existence.฀Additionally , its admission came on the heels of the admission of another free state, Minnesota฀(spring฀1858), and the defeat of admission for a slave state, the Kansas Territory, at approximately the same time.6 No plausible slave state was฀awaiting฀admission. This story illustrates how the so-called balance rule—the informal mechanism ฀of฀admitting฀states฀in฀pairs,฀one฀slave฀and฀one฀free,฀as฀a฀mechanism฀ of฀maintaining฀sectional฀harmony฀between฀the฀North฀and฀the฀South฀in฀the฀ U.S. Senate—is an incomplete analytical explanation for the politics of state admissions.฀In฀the฀case฀of฀the฀Oregon฀Territory,฀it฀has฀almost฀no฀explanatory฀ power.฀There฀was฀only฀one฀state฀being฀considered฀for฀admission,฀the฀vote฀ positions฀of ฀the฀congressional฀factions฀cut฀directly฀against฀their฀positions฀ in฀the฀slave฀crisis,฀and฀the฀admission฀did฀absolutely฀nothing฀to฀restore฀the฀ balance of power in the Senate. 5 House Journal, 35th฀Cong.,฀2d sess., 1859, pp. 398–99. See also Nolan McCarty, Keith Poole,฀and฀Howard฀Rosenthal,฀“Congress฀and฀the฀Territorial฀Expansion฀of฀the฀United฀States,”฀ in Party, Process, and Political Change: New Perspectives on the History of Congress, ed. David W. Brady and Mathew D. McCubbins (Stanford, Calif., 2002). 6 The฀Kansas฀Territory฀was฀the฀only฀plausible฀place฀left฀to฀carve฀out฀a฀legitimate฀slave฀ state,฀but฀it฀had฀soundly฀defeated...