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). The five laws balanced the interests of the slave states of the South and the free states.
The results were that the U.S. became divided even further between slave and free states and avoided a Civil War for at least a decade. California came into the Union as a free state and negated Texas as a slave state since there was an imbalance. The territories were to remain free. District of Columbia became free, but the Fugitive Slave Laws were strengthen.
2007-08-19 08:42:03
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answer #1
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answered by kepjr100 7
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To maintain an even balance between free and slave states, a series of measures was offered by the "great compromiser," Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky. In an attempt to give satisfaction to both proslavery and antislavery forces, the important sections of the omnibus bill called for the admission of California as a free state, the organization of the territories of New Mexico and Utah with the slavery question left open, settlement of the Texas-New Mexico boundary dispute, a more rigorous provision for the return of runaway slaves, and the prohibition of the slave trade in the District of Columbia.
With the influential support of Senator Daniel Webster and the concerted unifying efforts of Senator Stephen A. Douglas, the five compromise measures were enacted in September. These measures were accepted by moderates in all sections of the country, and the secession of the South was postponed for a decade. The Compromise, however, contained the seeds of future discord. The precedent of popular sovereignty led to a demand for a similar provision for the Kansas Territory in 1854, causing bitterness and violence there. Furthermore, the application of the new Fugitive Slave Act triggered such a strong reaction throughout the North that many moderate antislavery elements became determined opponents of any further extension of slavery into the territories. While the Compromise of 1850 succeeded as a temporary expedient, it also proved the failure of compromise as a permanent political solution when vital sectional interests were at stake.
2007-08-20 11:02:04
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answer #2
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answered by Retired 7
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RE:
Describe the Compromise of 1850 and its results.?
2015-08-18 15:36:08
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answer #3
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answered by ? 1
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(1) admission of California as a free state; (2) organization of New Mexico and Utah as territories with popular sovereignty; (3) payment to Texas for giving up some territory in New Mexico; (4) an end to the slave trade, but not slavery, in the District of Columbia; and (5) passage of a strict federal law enforcing the return of runaway, or fugitive, slaves.
In January 1850 Clay presented a bill in Congress with the following provisions: (1) admission of California as a free state; (2) organization of New Mexico and Utah as territories with popular sovereignty; (3) payment to Texas for giving up some territory in New Mexico; (4) an end to the slave trade, but not slavery, in the District of Columbia; and (5) passage of a strict federal law enforcing the return of runaway, or fugitive, slaves. Clay designed the proposals to give both sides some of their demands. Eventually the proposals would become the Compromise of 1850.
2007-08-21 10:47:08
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answer #4
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answered by Carissa P 1
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Because it meant that escaped slaves who found their way to the north and into free states could be captured and sent back to their owners. Worse, it required that all federal judiciary officials to assist in the re-capture of slaves. It also allowed for everyday folks, even in free states, to participate in the recapture if called upon to do so. Even join a posse to go chase down fugitive slaves, if called upon. Even help in transporting the escaped slave back to the south if called upon. The citizen could not decline. He could be anti-slavery and still be forced under the law to help chase, capture, and transport the escaped slave back to the south and slavery. The fine for a Federal Officer refusing to comply was $1,000. That's over $25,000 in today's money. What if a captured black person said he or she was freed and had the papers to prove it? Or what if the captured black person had never been a slave but born in a free state as the child of escaped/freed slaves. Didn't matter because the captured slave was forbidden from showing evidence of his or her status and was forbidden to testify. If they were declared an escaped slave, then that was the end of the discussion. Such abuses as this were common. The result of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act, the number of abolitionists grew. The operations of the Underground Railroad became efficient. Several free states passed laws that helped freed and escaped slaves, that prevented state jails from being used to house alleged escaped slaves, that prevented state officials from complying with the federal law (did you think "states rights" Only occurred in the south?), forced the slave catcher to appear in a hearing in order to prove that their prisoner was an escaped slave, allowed the prisoner to testify in this state-level proceeding and allowed the hearing to become a trial by jury with the prisoner the right to appeal. The State Supreme Court of Wisconsin declared the Fugitive Slave Law as unconstitutional, even though state courts had no authority to do so. When South Carolina seceded, they cited these "personal liberty" state laws as one their reasons in seceding.
2016-04-03 09:45:56
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answer #5
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answered by Anonymous
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