Social Issues
Compromise of 1850
Controversial Solution

When Zachary Taylor assumed office in early 1849, the question of the extension of slavery into former Mexican lands was becoming critical. The immediate pressure point was California, whose population mushroomed during the Gold Rush. Enthusiastic Californians petitioned for admission to the Union as a free state, thus laying down a challenge to the existing sectional balance of 15 free states and 15 slave states.

Taylor, never one to equivocate, was prepared to approve the admission of California, regardless of the impact on sectional politics. His death in July 1850 brought Millard Fillmore into office. The new president was open to a compromise that would address the concerns of both sides.

The Congressional cast of characters contained a mixture of old and new faces who labored to enact five separate laws which, considered together, constitute the Compromise of 1850.

The compromise thus balanced sectional interests by enacting the following:

1. California was admitted to the Union as a free state.
2. The New Mexico and Utah territories were to decide the question issue by relying on “popular sovereignty,” allowing the actual settlers to vote on the issue.
3. Texas lost the New Mexico territory, but received $10 million from the federal government for its loss.
4. The slave trade in the District of Columbia was abolished.
5. A new Fugitive Slave Act was passed.

The Compromise of 1850 generated positive and negative results. Its passage quieted sectional animosities for a few years (until the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854) and held off the Civil War for about 10 years. On the other hand, Northerners were so enraged by the provisions of the Fugitive Slave Act that it was impossible to strike future compromises.

Sponsors of U-S-History.com:

Sponsor this site