Henry Clay takes the floor of the Old Senate Chamber; Millard Fillmore presides as Calhoun and Webster look on.

The Compromise of 1850 was a series of laws that attempted to resolve the territorial and slavery controversies arising from the Mexican-American War (1846–48). There were 5 laws which balanced the interests of the slave states of the South of Missouri and the free states to the north. California was admitted as a free state; Texas received financial compensation for relinquishing to claim lands west of the Rio Grande in what is now New Mexico; the territory of New Mexico (including present-day Arizona and a portion of southern Nevada) was organized without any specific prohibition of slavery; the slave trade (but not slavery itself) was terminated in Washington, D.C.; and the stringent Fugitive Slave Law was passed, requiring all U.S. citizens to assist in the return of runaway slaves regardless of the legality of slavery in the specific states. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 758 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (909 × 719 pixel, file size: 123 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) http://hdl. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 758 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (909 × 719 pixel, file size: 123 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) http://hdl. ... For his namesake son, see Henry Clay, Jr. ... The restored Old Senate Chamber The Old Senate Chamber refers to a semi-circular and half-domed ceiling two story chamber on the second floor of the north wing of the United States Capitol in the Senate side of the building. ... Not to be confused with Mallard Fillmore. ... John Caldwell Calhoun (March 18, 1782 – March 31, 1850) was a leading United States Southern politician and political philosopher from South Carolina during the first half of the 19th century. ... Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852), was a leading American statesman during the nations antebellum era. ... This is a timeline of significant events leading to the American Civil War. ... Northwest Territory (1787). ... The United States in 1820. ... The Nullification Crisis was a sectional crisis during the presidency of Andrew Jackson that arose when the state of South Carolina attempted to nullify a federal law passed by the United States Congress. ... The Wilmot Proviso was introduced on August 8, 1846 in the House of Representatives as a rider on a $2 million appropriations bill intended for the final negotiations to resolve the Mexican-American War. ... This 1856 map shows slave states (grey), free states (red), and US territories (green) with Kansas in center (white). ... Division of the states during the Civil War:  Union states  Union territories  Border states  Bleeding Kansas  The Confederacy  Confederate territories (not always held) Bleeding Kansas, sometimes referred to in history as Bloody Kansas or the Border War, was a sequence of violent events involving Free-Staters (anti-slavery) and pro... Holding States do not have the right to claim an individuals property that was fairly theirs in another state. ... The Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 were a series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, and Stephen A. Douglas, a Democrat, for an Illinois seat in the United States Senate. ... John Brown, ca. ... Combatants United States Mexico Commanders Zachary Taylor Winfield Scott Stephen W. Kearney Antonio López de Santa Anna Mariano Arista Pedro de Ampudia José Mariá Flores Strength 78,790 soldiers 25,000–40,000 soldiers Casualties KIA: 1733 Total dead: 13,271 Wounded: 4,152 AWOL: 9,200+ 25,000... The free and slave states as of 1861, with free states in blue and slave states in red. ... Historic Southern United States. ... The free and slave states as of 1861, with free states in blue and slave states in red. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... For other uses, see Texas (disambiguation). ... “Río Bravo” redirects here. ... Capital Santa Fe Largest city Albuquerque Largest metro area Albuquerque metropolitan area Area  Ranked 5th  - Total 121,665 sq mi (315,194 km²)  - Width 342 miles (550 km)  - Length 370 miles (595 km)  - % water 0. ... The New Mexico Territory became an organized territory of the United States on September 9, 1850, and it existed until New Mexico became the 47th state on January 6, 1912. ... Official language(s) English Spoken language(s) English 74. ... This article is about the U.S. State of Nevada. ... The slave trade in Africa has existed for thousands of years. ... Slave redirects here. ... ... An April 24, 1851 poster warning colored people in Boston about policemen acting as slave catchers. ... In the history of slavery in the United States, a fugitive slave was a slave who had escaped his or her masters often with the intention of traveling to a place where the state of his or her enslavement was either illegal or not enforced. ...

The measures, a compromise designed by Whig Senator Henry Clay (who failed to get them through himself), were shepherded to passage by Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas and Whig Senator Daniel Webster. The measures were opposed by Senator John C. Calhoun. The Compromise was possible after the death of President Zachary Taylor, who was in opposition. Succeeding President Taylor was a strong supporter of the compromise, Millard Fillmore. It temporarily defused sectional tensions in the United States, postponing the secession crisis and the American Civil War. The Compromise dropped the Wilmot Proviso, which never became law but would have banned slavery in territory acquired from Mexico. Instead the Compromise further endorsed the doctrine of "Popular Sovereignty" for the New Mexico Territory. The various compromises lessened political contention for four years, until the relative lull was shattered by the divisive Kansas-Nebraska Act. The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. ... Type Upper House President of the Senate Richard B. Cheney, R since January 20, 2001 President pro tempore Robert C. Byrd, D since January 4, 2007 Members 100 Political groups Democratic Party Republican Party Last elections November 7, 2006 Meeting place Senate Chamber United States Capitol Washington, DC United States... For his namesake son, see Henry Clay, Jr. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  Politics Portal      Further information: Politics of the United States#Organization of American political parties The Democratic... Stephen A. Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 - June 3, 1861), American politician from Illinois, was one of the Democratic Party nominees for President in 1860 (the other being John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky). ... Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852), was a leading American statesman during the nations antebellum era. ... John Caldwell Calhoun (March 18, 1782 – March 31, 1850) was a leading United States Southern politician and political philosopher from South Carolina during the first half of the 19th century. ... This article is about the twelfth President of the United States. ... Not to be confused with Mallard Fillmore. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... The Wilmot Proviso was introduced on August 8, 1846 in the House of Representatives as a rider on a $2 million appropriations bill intended for the final negotiations to resolve the Mexican-American War. ... Popular sovereignty or the sovereignty of the people is the belief that the legitimacy of the state is created by the will or consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. ... This 1856 map shows slave states (grey), free states (red), and US territories (green) with Kansas in center (white). ...

Issues

Texas

The southwestern boundary of Texas was disputed. The Republic of Texas, which had seceded from Mexico, had been admitted to the United States and claimed territory that now comprises New Mexico. Texas also had $10 million in world debt it could not easily pay. The compromise solution was for the U.S. to pay the debts, while Texas allowed New Mexico to become a territory in the United States. For the latter day independence movement surrounding Texas, see Republic of Texas (group). ...

California

With very rapid population growth after the California Gold Rush, a state convention adopted an antislavery state constitution in late 1849, and applied for admission into the Union as a free state. The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) began shortly after January 24, 1848 (when gold was discovered at Sutters Mill in Coloma). ... Year 1849 (MDCCCXLIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

Mexican Cession territories

No territorial government had been formed for the remainder of the territory taken from Mexico, including New Mexico and parts of what became Arizona and other states. The Mormon pioneers had organized the "State of Deseret", but Congress was uneasy with the sheer size of the proposed state (which included all of present-day Utah and Nevada and parts of Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Oregon, and Idaho including access to the Pacific) as well as its low population and the dominance of the Mormons. A statue commemorating the Mormon pioneers The Mormon pioneers were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as Latter-day Saints, who migrated across the United States from the midwest to the Salt Lake Valley in what is today the U.S. state of... The boundaries of the provisional State of Deseret (orange) as proposed in 1849. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... This article is about the U.S. State of Nevada. ... Official language(s) English Capital Cheyenne Largest city Cheyenne Area  Ranked 10th  - Total 97,818 sq mi (253,348 km²)  - Width 280 miles (450 km)  - Length 360 miles (580 km)  - % water 0. ... Official language(s) English Capital Denver Largest city Denver Largest metro area Denver-Aurora Metro Area Area  Ranked 8th  - Total 104,185 sq mi (269,837 km²)  - Width 280 miles (451 km)  - Length 380 miles (612 km)  - % water 0. ... Capital Santa Fe Largest city Albuquerque Largest metro area Albuquerque metropolitan area Area  Ranked 5th  - Total 121,665 sq mi (315,194 km²)  - Width 342 miles (550 km)  - Length 370 miles (595 km)  - % water 0. ... Official language(s) English Spoken language(s) English 74. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... For other uses, see Idaho (disambiguation). ...

Fugitive Slave Act

The Fugitive Slave Act was a result of the Mexican-American War to settle turmoil that arose from other decisions made concerning the issues that surfaced from the victory. As a consequence of the Mexican War, the balance in the country between slavery and antislavery territories was briefly upset. The decision to make newly-acquired California a free state, as well as the other provisions after the war that opposed slavery, caused this disturbance. After the United States won California in the Mexican War, a decision had to be made about whether it should become a slave or free state. After it was proclaimed free, pro-slavery Americans were angered by this shift in the balance of power towards free states and threatened secession. The Fugitive Slave Act was strengthened to prevent further turmoil. First enacted in 1793, the bolstered Act aided slaveholders by mandating that all escaped slaves must be returned to their masters, and - more crucially for the impending war - that ordinary citizens were required to aid slavecatchers. Many northern citizens deeply resented this pressure; but in serving their duties, they saw many scenes of such tragedy that former slavery fence-sitters landed squarely on the side of the abolitionists. This renewed act did help appease the Southern states and their contingent slaveowners by assuring the return of the slaves they considered property. However, once the secession threat was quieted, resentment towards this act continued to heighten tensions between the North and South, being thoroughly despised by the former. This Fugitive Slave Act is seen as one of the key steps towards civil war. It was included partly because of the public reaction to the Pearl incident.^[1] The Pearl incident was the largest recorded escape attempt by slaves in the United States. ...

The compromise was a series of 5 acts. Although the compromise was successful for a short time, it ultimately failed.

Clay and Douglas draft compromise

Congress convened on December 3, 1849. On January 29, 1850, Whig Senator Henry Clay gave a speech which called for compromise on the issues dividing the Union. However, Clay's specific proposals for achieving a compromise, including his idea for Texas' boundary, were not adopted, although Clay later claimed credit for drafting the entire compromise. Rather, it was Senator Stephen A. Douglas, Democrat of Illinois, who largely guided the Compromise to passage. The Compromise came to coalesce around a plan dividing Texas at its present-day boundaries, creating territorial governments with "popular sovereignty" (without the Wilmot Proviso) for New Mexico and Utah, admitting California as a free state, abolishing the slave auctions in the District of Columbia, and enacting a harsh new fugitive slave law. is the 337th day of the year (338th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1849 (MDCCCXLIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 29th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the game, see: 1850 (board game) 1850 (MDCCCL) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday [1] of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... For his namesake son, see Henry Clay, Jr. ... Stephen Arnold Douglas (nicknamed the Little Giant because he was short but was considered by many a giant in politics) was an American politician from the western state of Illinois, and was the Democratic Party nominee for President in 1860. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Largest metro area Chicago Metropolitan Area Area  Ranked 25th  - Total 57,918 sq mi (140,998 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 390 miles (629 km)  - % water 4. ... Popular sovereignty or the sovereignty of the people is the belief that the legitimacy of the state is created by the will or consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. ... The Wilmot Proviso was introduced on August 8, 1846 in the House of Representatives as a rider on a $2 million appropriations bill intended for the final negotiations to resolve the Mexican-American War. ...

View of Davis and Southern Democrats

Some Southern Democrats, led by Jefferson Davis, opposed Douglas's and especially Clay's compromise because they would have admitted California as a free state, thus disturbing the balance of power between North and South in the Senate, and because they would have negated some of Texas's land claims. They also opposed as unconstitutional the abolition of the slave auctions in the District of Columbia. For other uses, see Jefferson Davis (disambiguation). ...

View of Seward and Northern Whigs

Most Northern Whigs, led by William Henry Seward who delivered his famous "Higher Law" speech during the controversy, opposed the Compromise as well because it would not have applied the Wilmot Proviso to the western territories and because of the Democratic new fugitive slave law, which would have pressed ordinary citizens into duty on slave-hunting patrols; this provision was inserted by Democratic Virginia Senator James M. Mason to coerce border-state Whigs, who faced the greatest danger of losing slaves as fugitives but who were lukewarm on general sectional issues related to the South into supporting Texas's land claims. Willam H. Seward William Henry Seward (May 16, 1801–October 10, 1872) was United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. ... The Wilmot Proviso was introduced on August 8, 1846 in the House of Representatives as a rider on a $2 million appropriations bill intended for the final negotiations to resolve the Mexican-American War. ... James M. Mason James Murray Mason (November 3, 1798 - April 28, 1871) was a United States Representative and United States Senator from Virginia. ...

Whig President Zachary Taylor attempted to sidestep the entire controversy by pushing to admit California and New Mexico as free states immediately, avoiding the entire territorial process and thus the Wilmot Proviso question. Taylor's stand was unpopular among Southerners.

Northern Democrats and Southern Whigs did support the Compromise. Southern Whigs, many of whom were from the border states, supported the stronger fugitive slave law.

Debate and results

On April 17, a "Committee of Thirteen" agreed on the border of Texas as part of Clay's plan. The dimensions were later changed. That same day, during debates on the measures in the Senate, Vice President Millard Fillmore and Thomas Hart Benton verbally sparred, with Fillmore charging that the Missourian was "out of order". During the heated debates, Compromise floor leader Henry S. Foote of Mississippi drew a pistol on Senator Benton. is the 107th day of the year (108th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Not to be confused with Mallard Fillmore. ... Thomas Hart Benton nicknamed Old Bullion (March 14, 1782 – April 10, 1858), was an U.S. Senator from Missouri and a staunch advocate of westward expansion of the United States. ... Henry Stuart Foote (February 28, 1804 - May 19, 1880) was a United States Senator from Mississippi from 1847 to 1852 and Governor of Mississippi from 1852 to 1854. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ...

In early June, nine slaveholding Southern states sent delegates to the Nashville Convention to determine their course of action should the compromise take hold. While some delegates preached secession, eventually the moderates ruled, and they proposed a series of compromises, including extending the geographic dividing line designated the Missouri Compromise of 1820 to the Pacific Coast. The Nashville Convention was a political meeting held in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 3 – 11, 1850. ... For other uses, see Secession (disambiguation). ... The United States in 1820. ... The Pacific Coast is any coast fronting the Pacific Ocean. ...

The various bills were initially combined into one "omnibus" bill, which failed to pass the Senate because only a minority supported all the provisions. The situation was changed by the death of President Taylor and the accession of Fillmore on July 9, 1850. The influence of the new administration was now thrown in favor of the compromise. Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas and his supporters in the House assembled different majorities for each of five separate bills. The Northern Democrats held together and supported each of the bills and gained Whigs or Southern Democrats to pass each one. All passed and were signed by President Fillmore between September 9 and September 20, 1850. is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the game, see: 1850 (board game) 1850 (MDCCCL) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday [1] of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Stephen A. Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 - June 3, 1861), American politician from Illinois, was one of the Democratic Party nominees for President in 1860 (the other being John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky). ... is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 263rd day of the year (264th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the game, see: 1850 (board game) 1850 (MDCCCL) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday [1] of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

1. California was admitted as a free state. It passed 150-56. (Hamilton, Holman. Prologue to Conflict. University of Kentucky Press, copyright 1965. P. 160)
2. The slave trade was abolished (the sale of slaves, not the institution of slavery) in the District of Columbia.
3. The territories of New Mexico (including present-day Arizona) and a much-smaller Utah were organized under the rule of popular sovereignty. It passed 97-85.
4. The Fugitive Slave Act was passed, requiring all U.S. citizens to assist in the return of runaway slaves. It passed 109-76.
5. Texas gave up much of the western land which it claimed and received compensation of $10,000,000 to pay off its national debt.

In the history of the United States, an organized territory is a territory for which the United States Congress has enacted an Organic Act. ... USD redirects here. ...

Implications

The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 made any federal marshal or other official who did not arrest an alleged runaway slave liable to a fine of $1,000. Law-enforcement officials everywhere in the United States had a duty to arrest anyone suspected of being a fugitive slave on no more evidence than a claimant's sworn testimony of ownership. The suspected slave could not ask for a jury trial or testify on his or her own behalf. In addition, any person aiding a runaway slave by providing food or shelter was to be subject to six months' imprisonment and a $1,000 fine. Officers capturing a fugitive slave were entitled to a fee for their work. An April 24, 1851 poster warning colored people in Boston about policemen acting as slave catchers. ... “U.S. Marshals” redirects here. ... In the history of slavery in the United States, a fugitive slave was a slave who had escaped his or her masters often with the intention of traveling to a place where the state of his or her enslavement was either illegal or not enforced. ...

The Compromise in general proved widely popular politically, as both parties committed themselves in their platforms to the finality of the Compromise on sectional issues. The strongest opposition in the South occurred in the states of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, but unionists soon prevailed, spearheaded by Georgians Alexander Stephens, Robert Toombs, and Howell Cobb and the creation of the Georgia Platform. This peace was broken only by the divisive Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 introduced by Stephen Douglas, which repealed the Missouri Compromise and led directly to the formation of the Republican Party, whose capture of the national government in 1860 led directly to the secession crisis of 1860-61. This is an article about the Confederate Vice President. ... Postbellum photograph of Robert A. Toombs. ... Howell Cobb (September 7, 1815–October 9, 1868) was an American political figure. ... The Georgia Platform was a statement executed by a Georgia Convention in response to the Compromise of 1850. ... The Kansas–Nebraska Act was an Act of Congress in 1854 organizing the remaining territory within the Louisiana Purchase for settlement before its admission to the Union. ... The Republican Party of the United States was established in 1854 and is one of the two dominant parties today. ...

Many historians argue that the Compromise played a major role in postponing the American Civil War for a decade, during which time the Northwest was growing more wealthy and more populous, and was being brought into closer relations with the Northeast.^[2] During that decade, the Whigs collapsed, bringing about a major realignment with the new Republican Party dominant in the North.^[3] But others argue that the Compromise only made more obvious pre-existing sectional divisions and laid the groundwork for future conflict. In this view, the Fugitive Slave Law helped polarize North and South, as shown in the enormous reaction to Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. The passage of the Fugitive Slave Law aroused feelings of bitterness in the North. Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... Harriet Elizabeth Beecher Stowe (June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and abolitionist, whose novel Uncle Toms Cabin (1852) attacked the cruelty of slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential, even in Britain. ... Uncle Toms Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly, is American author Harriet Beecher Stowes fictional anti-slavery novel. ...

The delay of hostilities for ten years allowed the free economy of the northern states to industrialize. The southern states, to a large degree based on slave labor and cash crop production, lacked the ability to heavily industrialize ^[4]. By 1860, the northern states had many more miles of railroad, steel production, modern factories, and population. The North was better able to supply, equip, and man its armed forces, an advantage that would prove decisive in the later stages of the war.

References

• H. D. Foster, "Webster's Seventh of March Speech," American Historical Review, 27 (1922), 245-270 online in JSTOR
• Holman Hamilton, Prologue to Conflict: The Crisis and Compromise of 1850 (1964), the standard historical study
• Holman Hamilton. "Democratic Senate Leadership and the Compromise of 1850," The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, Vol. 41, No. 3. (Dec., 1954), pp. 403-418. in JSTOR
• Holman Hamilton. Zachary Taylor, Soldier in the White House (1951)
• Holt, Michael F. The Political Crisis of the 1850s (1978).
• Michael F. Holt, The Fate of Their Country: Politicians, Slavery Extension, and the Coming of the Civil War (2005).
• Johannsen, Robert W. Stephen A. Douglas (1973) (ISBN 0195016203)
• Morrison, Michael A. Slavery and the American West: The Eclipse of Manifest Destiny and the Coming of the Civil War (1997) (ISBN 0807823198)
• Allan Nevins, Ordeal of the Union (1947) v 2, highly detailed narrative
• Mark J. Stegmaier, Texas, New Mexico, and the Compromise of 1850: Boundary Dispute and Sectional Crisis, Kent State University Press, 1996. 434 pp.
• Remini, Robert. Henry Clay: Statesman for the Union (1991)
• James Ford Rhodes, History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850, vol. i. (New York, 1896).
• Rozwenc, Edwin C. ed. The Compromise of 1850. (1957) convenient collection of primary and secondary documents; 102 pp.
• Sewell, Richard H. "Ballots for Freedom: Antislavery Politics in the United States 1837-1860" New York: Oxford University Press, 1976.
• Charles M. Wiltse, John C. Calhoun, Sectionalist, 1840-1850 (1951)

References

External links

• Compromise of 1850
• Compromise of 1850 and related resources