Examples Of Henry Clay Compromise Of 1850

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Henry Clay came forward with he compromise of 1850. Although he held slaves himself, President Taylor opposed the extension of slavery into the territories of California and New Mexico. In 1849, California requested admission as a free state, which frightened the South because the admission of another free state into the Union would make slave-holding interests a minority in Congress. Southern Congressmen tried to block California’s admission. With the national government in gridlock, Henry Clay stepped forward in May 1850 to present a compromise, much as he had thirty years earlier when Missouri sought statehood.The Compromise of 1850 contained the following provisions: (1) California was admitted to the Union as a free state; (2) the remainder