Compromise of 1850
The compromise consisted of laws that were passed by the U.S. government in September of 1850. These laws were the resolution to the issue of slavery. Originally, California had asked for permission to enter the United States as a free state, which the current president felt that it could upset the balance of free and slave states. To solve this, Senator Henry Clay proposed a series of solutions in January of 1850.
The Compromise of 1850 was created due to the territory that was sold to America during the Mexican American war. After the war, the territories that were now part of the U.S., unbalanced the number of slave states in Congress. The Compromise of 1850 solved this problem. It consisted of laws that added California to the U.S. as a free state. That meant that slavery was not allowed in California. The Compromise also admitted Utah and New Mexico into the U.S., but didn't determine whether those territories had to be slave or free states. They were either a free or slave state "due to popular sovereignty", which meant that the states could choose. The Compromise of 1850 also settled a New Mexico-Texas border dispute and ended slavery in Washington D.C. But, one of the most important parts of the Compromise of 1850 was the Fugitive Slave Act. The Fugitive Slave Act was an act that made in against the law for people in free states to help slaves that were escaping slavery. It also made it the law that you had to return any slaves back to their owner. The Compromise of 1850 transformed the nation because it settled disputes about slavery about the hole west. It also "locked in" slave states and made it illegal for people to help slaves escape.
Videos
Above is a video of the compromise of 1850. Skip to 0:30 to skip intro.
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Above is a video about the Compromise of 1850 "Shake It Off" Parody
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