The Success Of The Compromise Of 1850

On January 29, 1850, Senator Henry Clay passed a series of bills that were collectivly called the Compromise of 1850 (Primary Documents, 2012). The Compromise of 1850 was made to solve significant slavery and boundary issues that caused turmoil between the north and the south which were simultaneously also avoided the termination of the union (The Missouri Compromise, n.d.). In order for this to happen, the Compromise was made of five different parts that would resolve five different problems. Each problem would address a different problem in order to reach a collective agreement in America. The Compromise of 1850 was successful in appeasing the North and South after heavy disagreement on wether the new American states: California, New Mexico, …show more content…
R., & Weingast, B. R., 2006). Secondly, the compromise included the action of taking the newly obtained California state and have it be admitted as a free state which meant that slavery would be illegal in this state (Compromise of 1850, n.d.). Part three of the compromise ended slave trade in Washington which halted the purchasing and trading of slaves in this popular slave area (End of Slave Trade in Washington DC, 2010). Part four of the compromise introduced the idea of popular sovereignty; people could decide if the new western states would or would not include slavery (Popular Sovereignty, n.d.). Lastly, Texas lost the boundary dispute with New Mexico which means that Texas was not enlarged but they recieved $10 million in compensation for the loss (Texas and Slavery, n.d.). The Compromise of 1850 was successful in appeasing the North and South after heavy disagreement on wether the new American states: California, New Mexico, and Utah; should or should not be open to slavery …show more content…
Although slave trade was abolished in Washington D.C., slavery still existed and the new Fugitive slave act allowed for the slavery population to stay constant(The Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act, n.d.). The fugitive slave act would force any state that finds fugitive states to return them to their owner (Hummel, J. R., & Weingast, B. R., 2006). The slavery population was not affected because any slaves attempting to be free would be returned to the owner if found. The North, however was not happy but the blow was softened with the introduction of the termination of slave trade. The North had been an active supporter of the free slave movement and most would refuge fugitive slaves and help them on their journey to become free but now everyone was forced to return slaves or they would have to face the legal consequences (Fugitive Slave Acts,