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The Civil War: The Compromise Of 1850

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The Compromise of 1850 was an agreement that came about after certain events had taken place involving the United States. This compromise also lead to other major happenings in history. The aftermath of the Mexican American war confirmed that there must be a compromise relating to the territory which was obtained. Many other important and impactful events and laws also came from this compromise. These included The Fugitive Slave Act, The addition of California to the union as a free state and also, the addition of all of the territory gained from the success of the Mexican American War. Ultimately, the United States was divided by one thing, slavery. “The South held a pro-slavery identity that supported the expansion of slavery into western …show more content…

victory in the war” (Doctor Gayle Olson-Raymer). The Compromise “divided the remaining former Mexican holdings into two territories - New Mexico and Utah - where the question of slavery would be left to the people - popular sovereignty” (Doctor Gayle Olson-Raymer), and also brought California into the Union as a free state. With this addition of California, the balance of free and slave states was thrown off. There was uneven representation of the free and slave states because there were more free states. The compromise also brought the Fugitive Slave Act into play. The Fugitive Slave act essentially gave commissioners the “authority to ake and remove such fugitives from service or labor, under the restrictions herein contained, to the State or Territory from which such persons may have escaped or fled” (Fugitive Slave Act of 1850). If anyone was found guilty of not turning in a fugitive slave to authorities, they themselves were punished for not doing what was considered their “duty.” In the end, the Compromise of 1850 was based primarily on sectional conflict and came about through sectionalism or the selfish way of supporting what is best for one’s region of the Nation rather than what is best for the Nation as a whole. The Northern states wanted these new territories to be free, causing greater representation in government for the free states. On the other hand, The Southern States wanted the new territories to be slave territories, therefore, increasing their representation in

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This act made any official who did not turn in a runaway slave liable to pay a fine; therefore, truly enforcing the law and safeguarding southern property. This also made every Northerner responsible for turning in runaway slaves. In Stephen Douglas’ “Speech Defending the Compromise of 1850” he stated, “Congress, after a protracted session of nearly ten months, succeeded in passing a system of measures, which are believed to be just to all parts of the Republic, and ought to be satisfactory to the People. ”7 Douglas believed by making this concession, the south would remain a part of the union.

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With these two events this caused the United States to double in land. The slavery issue was resolved with the compromise of 1850. This brought the California territory as a free state because the people had voted on it before they

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In this compromise, Northern states, in their desire to keep the Union intact, agreed to wait until 1808 before Congress would be able to ban the slave trade in the U.S Also part of this compromise was the fugitive slave law, which required Northern states to deport any runaway slaves, another win for the

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The Compromise of 1850 was an attempt by the U.S Congress to settle divisive issues between the North and South, including slavery expansion, apprehension in the North of fugitive slaves, and slavery in the District of Columbia. The Compromise of 1850 failed because Senator John C. Calhoun from the South and Senator William Seward from the North could not agree on what Henry Clay was putting down. Part of the compromise was to make California a slavery free state which benefits the North, and enforcing a stricter fugitive slave law which benefits the South. Both the North and South opposed what the other was benefiting from. What sparked the failure of the Compromise was the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850.

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Geographically the United States was divided with the North being against slavery and the South supporting slavery. This division in the states had a great affect on the decision making in congress

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The Mexican-American war altered the United States environmentally, culturally and politically. First, on February 2, 1848, Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo two years post the beginning of the war. The treaty not only achieved President Polk’s goal to achieve California from Mexico but also granted the U.S. over 500,000 square miles of new territory. The new land caused approximately 90,000 spanish speaking, mostly Catholic Mexicans under American jurisdiction. Second, Nativism, a rising anti-catholic and anti-immigrant deemed the Mexicans inferior.

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The compromise of 1850 was the cause of the civil war. The problem started when California came in as a free state. The South didn’t want California to enter the Union because they would enter as a free state because the South was scared that if more free states came in they would eventually lose power in the Senate. The compromise of 1850 had four parts; California would come in as a free state, slave trade would be abolished in Washington D.C., Utah and New Mexico would decide whether or not they would allow slavery, and the fugitive slave act was made.

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Following the Mexican-American War, America had gained the Utah and New Mexico territories as well as California from the Bear Flag Revolt. The onset of Manifest Destiny occurred faster than ever before, with territories vying to become full US states. Northerners fought to stop the expansion of slavery, whereas Southerners argued for the opposite. Over the 20 years since Clay’s last compromise, sectional divisions grew worse than ever before seen in the country. Still not having decided his opinion on the issue of slavery, Clay saw how important it was to compromise.

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The crisis arose from the request of the territory of California On December 3, 1849 , the territory of California asked to join the Union with a constitution that did not allow slavery. The question of slavery being extended into other areas made this a difficult situation because the question was never resolved from the start. In 1850 , with the support of a couple senators , Henry Clay suggested another compromise. California would be allowed to join the Union as a free state, and the rest of the land that was taken from Mexico would be divided up and slavery status would be concluded by each as they would determine slavery by having its people to decide for themselves.

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Due to the fact that the South had more of an agricultural economy, the Southerners thought that the states should have the right to decide whether residents could own slaves, rather than the federal government. In 1846 a congressman from Pennsylvania named David Wilmot introduced a bill to the House of Representatives called the Wilmot Proviso. This said slavery would not be allowed in any western territory acquired from Mexico. Of course most of the politicians from the North loved the idea, while the politicians from the South did not. The Missouri Compromise on March 3, 1820 (also called the Compromise of 1820) was the first major legislative compromise that was passed to draw a line between slave and free territory.

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Congress and across the country. They reached a boiling point after Missouri’s 1819 request for admission to the Union as a slave state or a free state, which threatened to upset the balance between slave states and free states. To keep the peace, Congress orchestrated a two-part compromise, granting Missouri’s request but also admitting Maine as a free state. It also passed an amendment that drew an imaginary line across the former Louisiana Territory, establishing a boundary between free and slave regions that remained the law of the land until it was negated by the Kansas. The north’s reaction towards the MIssouri Compromise was that they condemned it for acquiescing in the expansion of

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Many other events like this one happened. For example, the territory (state) of Oregon belonged to Great Britain, and Texas to Mexico. After the US annexed Texas, Mexico had to surrender it. President James Polk supported slavery, so he maneuvered his way into making Texas a slave state. This upset the balance, so after negotiations with Britain, Oregon joined our country as a free state.

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INTRODUCTION Throughout the 1840s and 1850s a major war happened called the Mexican American War which drastically changed the U.S. and Mexico and lead to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo to be signed and which established the Rio Grande and not the Nueces River as the U.S Border. This also lead to the U.S. annexation of Texas and lead to the Mexico agreeing to sell California and the rest of the territory for 15 million. So you 're probably wondering why the war was fought but you 'll find that out later.

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Eventually, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in 1848 and ended the war. It gave the United States the territories of California, Texas, and New Mexico. The Mexican-American War reintroduced the question of the expansion of slavery with the events of the Wilmot Proviso, the debate over California’s statehood, and the Compromise of

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