how did the fire eaters of South Carolina react to the compromise of 1850

Answer 1

The Fire-Eaters of South Carolina were a group of extremist pro-slavery politicians who strongly opposed any compromise that could potentially limit the expansion of slavery. Therefore, their reaction to the Compromise of 1850 was highly negative.

The Compromise of 1850 was a series of legislative measures aimed at settling the sectional tensions between the North and the South over the issue of slavery. The compromise included provisions such as the admission of California as a free state, the banning of the slave trade in Washington, D.C., and a stronger fugitive slave law.

The Fire-Eaters vehemently rejected the compromise as they believed that any restriction on the expansion of slavery was a direct attack on their way of life and the continuation of slavery. They argued that the Fugitive Slave Law, in particular, was not strong enough to protect their rights as slaveholders.

The most prominent Fire-Eater at that time was senator Robert Barnwell Rhett, who expressed strong opposition to the Compromise of 1850. He argued that the compromise undermined the rights of the South and proposed that South Carolina secede from the Union instead. Rhett's views represented those of the Fire-Eaters, and their opposition to the compromise was a reflection of their intense commitment to the preservation and expansion of slavery.

In the years following the Compromise of 1850, the antagonism of the Fire-Eaters towards any compromise continued to escalate, leading South Carolina to become the first state to secede from the Union in December 1860, ultimately leading to the American Civil War.