Doughface facts for kids
The word doughface first meant a mask made from dough. But it soon became a way to describe someone, especially a politician, who was easily influenced or changed their mind. In an 1847 dictionary, "doughfacism" was defined as being "willing to be led by someone with a stronger mind."
Before the American Civil War, "doughface" was used for people from the North who supported the South's ideas in political arguments. It usually referred to a Democrat from the North who often sided with Southern Democrats instead of most Northern Democrats.
What "Doughface" Means
The term "doughface" was created by John Randolph, a politician from Virginia. He used it during the debates about the Missouri Compromise. Randolph didn't respect Northerners who voted with the South. He thought they were "weak men" or "half-baked men."
Randolph once said about these politicians:
They were scared at their own dough faces—yes, they were scared at their own dough faces!—We had them, and if we wanted three more, we could have had them: yes, and if these had failed, we could have three more of these men, whose conscience, and morality, and religion, extend to 'thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude'.
Some people think John Randolph might have actually said "doe faces" instead of "dough faces." Both would sound the same. Randolph was a hunter, and calling someone a "doe face" might have been his way of saying they were weak.
In 1820, seventeen "doughfaces" helped pass the Missouri Compromise. This agreement tried to balance slave and free states. Later, in 1836, sixty Northern congressmen voted with the South to pass a gag rule. This rule stopped anti-slavery petitions from being discussed in the House of Representatives.
In 1847, twenty-seven Northerners joined the South in opposing the Wilmot Proviso. This proposal would have banned slavery in new territories. In 1850, thirty-five Northerners supported a stronger fugitive slave law. This law made it harder for enslaved people to escape to freedom. By 1854, the South wanted to undo the Missouri Compromise. Fifty-eight Northerners supported this change through the Kansas–Nebraska Act.
Doughfaces in the 1850s
While the term started in the House of Representatives, doughfaces became very important in the United States Senate. The North's population grew faster, giving it more votes in the House. But in the Senate, there was an equal number of slave and free states. This meant only a few Northerners were needed to support the South to stop new laws. A clear example was the Wilmot Proviso votes in 1846 and 1847. The House passed it, but the Senate rejected it.
Many Southerners still saw doughfaces as weak. They believed these politicians lacked strong beliefs and only cared about what was politically convenient. This made them seem unreliable.
Two U.S. Presidents before Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan, were often called doughfaces. Stephen A. Douglas was also criticized by Lincoln as a "doughface." Douglas broke with his party over the Lecompton Constitution for Kansas in 1857. Other doughfaces included Charles G. Atherton, who wrote the gag rule, and Jesse D. Bright, a Northern senator expelled for treason during the Civil War.
The biggest problem for doughfaces, from the South's view, came with the idea of popular sovereignty. This meant that people in a territory should decide for themselves if slavery would be allowed. At first, both Northern and Southern Democrats agreed with this idea. It protected states' rights and allowed states to compete for new territories.
However, the anti-slavery movement grew stronger in the North. By the late 1850s, Southerners no longer just wanted to stop the federal government from interfering in territories. They now wanted the federal government to protect slavery in the territories. They also wanted to prevent any decision on slavery until a territory was ready to become a state. Northern Democrats like Douglas could not agree to this. At this point, the doughface, who tried to find compromises between the North and South, was no longer useful.
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