The Compromise Of 1850, The Fugitive Slave Act, And The Dred Scott Case

The compromises merely worked, and with the passing of time, tensions rose more between the sections, thus making these compromises less and less effective. The Compromise of 1850 enraged both the North and the South. When California was annexed, it was assigned to become a free state and the South did not appeal to that because the land boundaries that was made by the Missouri Compromise was large. Another part of this compromise that angered Southerners was that slave trade was banned in Washington D.C. The Fugitive Slave Law, which was a part of the Compromise of 1850 angered the North, because it allowed bounty hunters to hunt down slaves and the people who helped them to hide. Also, Northerners rejected this because they rejected Popular Sovereignty, which created possibilities of having slavery in any Northern states.

The Compromise of 1850 brought relative calm to the nation. Though most blacks and abolitionists strongly opposed the Compromise, the majority of Americans embraced it, believing that it offered a final, workable solution to the slavery question. Most importantly, it saved the Union from the terrible split that many had feared. People were all too ready to leave the slavery controversy behind them and move on. But the feeling of relief that spread throughout the country would prove to be the calm before the storm.

The ratification of the US Constitution in 1787 sparked a ferocious and spiteful debate between two large groups of people, those who supported the ratification and those who did not. Both sides were very passionate about their ideas yet they were so divergent, as one believed that the ratification could create a more powerful, unified country, while others worried about the government gaining perhaps too much control. The supporters and opponents equally had various strong reasons in their beliefs regarding the ratification of the US Constitution, the most common for the supporters being that the current government was heading badly, and a ratification would fix all the mistakes made originally and set the course for a successful government. On the other hand, the biggest concern for the opponents was that the ratification would give the government too much power, and there would be no controlling force to keep the government in its place.

With the increased sectional tensions left untouched after the Missouri Compromise, California wants in as a free state. Again, Henry Clay suggests an idea to keep from the occurrence of another uprising like the one after the Missouri Compromise. The Compromise of 1850 had something to offer for the North and the South. The Compromise would allow California to become a free state, as a benefit for the North. It would also ban the selling of slaves in Washington D.C., another benefit to the North. To make the south happy, it strengthened

After working tirelessly to set forth his Compromise, Henry Clay’s Compromise finally became a law in 1850. Initially, the Compromise of 1850 slit up guidelines about slavery for the North and South. In the North, CA was a free state, the slave trade was prohibited in Wash. DC, and unrelated to slavery, TX lost their boundary conflict with NM. In the South, slaveholding was permitted in Wash. DC, and the creation of the Fugitive slave act. The fugitive slave act gave federal support to slave catchers. Although the N and S both benefitted from the compromise, the North technically gained more out of it. The Compromise of 1850 was significant because it gave the South the Fugitive slave law, and gave the North a new free state, CA—everybody wins!

The Fugitive Slave Law or Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was a law passed by the United States Congress on September 18th. This Law stated that all people who had escaped from slavery must be returned to their owners. Keep in mind that in this situation slaves were traded and bought, sort of thought of back then what farm equipment is now. If people in the North, Where Slavery was not legal, hid or in some way helped slaves, they were breaking the law of the land. Law officials everywhere now had a duty to arrest anyone that was suspected of being a runaway slave, with very little evidence needed except the owners testimony of ownership. The suspected slave could not ask for a jury trial or testify on his or her own behalf.

The Compromise of 1850 was a desperate attempt to keep the southern states from seceding from the United States of America. While the goal was to keep the south from seceding, the new laws actually created more tension than it solved. Since the division in America over slave ownership had been holding a delicate balance with the states on both sides, the North and the South. When California petitioned to join the Union in 1849 as a free state, that delicate balance tipped and the conflict once again erupted. The Compromise consisted of 5 laws, admitting California as a free state, creating Utah and New Mexico territories with the question of slavery in each is determined by popular sovereignty, settling a Texas-New Mexico boundary dispute in the former’s favor, ending the slave trade in Washington D.C. and making it easier for southerners to recover fugitive slaves (History).

The Compromise of 1850 was 5 bills that the U.S. Congress passed in September 1850 to outline a 4-year plan about what to do with the territories aquired during the Mexican-American War. The Compromise addressed whether the territories would become slave states or free states.

All of this new land was a major benefactor to the Market Revolution and widespread commerce, but it left a lot of problems regarding slavery. Thus, The Compromise of 1850 was passed. This act admitted California as a free state and abolished slave trade in the nation’s capital to please northerners. It also Installed the Fugitive Slave Act and formed a territorial government in the west with no slavery restrictions for southerners. This compromise was also referred to as the “Armistice of 1850” because it resolved issues for at least a little bit.

To what extent did the Dred Scott Case and the Fugitive slave act and laws further divide the United States? Slavery has been an obstacle to America since the beginning of America’s independence. “… this incomplete revolution did produce, of course, was a fairly clear-cut division of the new nation into slaveholding and non-slaveholding states – all at the very same time when the foundations of a national government were being laid” . It was also geography and economic differences that continue to divide the North and South. The most important issue was slavery. The issue of slavery was pointed out many times by James Madison. The Dred Scott case presented three issues that have been debated throughout the country. The issues are 1. The citizenship of African Americans. “2. Status of slaves who had been held on free soil; and 3. The constitutionality of federal legislation prohibiting slavery in territories. ”

The Compromise of 1850 had many upsides to it. Among them is that it made slave trade legal but slavery was not. Of course, there were mixed emotions about the whole situation. Also California was admitted to the Union which made a lot of people content. This benefitted the government in many ways such as creating a more unified society. The compromise made it so people did not have to fear for who they were. Especially if you were black in the North or South, but that would soon change in the South because of the hatred between the two races.

Questions over slavery soon arose and once again were temporarily quieted by a new compromise, the Compromise of 1850. The Compromise of 1850 consisted of 5 laws. It was decided that California would be admitted to the Union as a free state. The Compromise also introduced popular sovereignty, Utah and New Mexico would decide amongst itself the question of slavery. It also settled Texas’s boundary disputes. Texas claimed it owned land until the Santa Fe; however the compromises determined new Texas boundaries, and granted Texas $10 million dollars to pay off its debt. It was also decided that in Washington D.C. the slave trade would be banned, but slavery would still be continued. Congress also updated the barely enforced Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. Slaves fled through escapes such as the Underground Railroad, so to minimize the amount of escaped slaves the Fugitive Slave Law was revised. The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850required that all citizens must aid in the help of capturing fugitives and anyone who didn’t would be punished. The new law also stated that runaway slaves would no longer have the privilege of trial by jury. Overall the compromise settled disputes over the new obtained land by allowing California be admitted as a free state, while Utah and New Mexico had no restrictions on slavery, Washington could no longer participate in slave trade, but slavery was still allowed, and Texas didn’t obtain all land to the Santa Fe, but did receive $10 million dollars to pay off its

During the time around 1850, tensions were rising on the issue of slavery between the North and the South. New states were being admitted to the United States, but the decisions to make them a free state or a slave state were what really mattered. As an example, California was admitted to the Union as a free state, and this angered the south very much because slavery was a very important factor to the South's economy. The Compromise of 1850 was developed to help soothe the tensions on each side. This Compromise had several provisions: California was admitted to the Union as a free state; the territories of New Mexico and Utah were created without restrictions of slavery; the slave trade was abolished in Washington, D.C.; Congress passed a stricter fugitive slave law. This compromise showed just how important slavery was to each side, and it gives us a good idea of why it could be important as one of their goals during the Civil War. With slavery in mind, it brought about ideas of succession to the South. Because the South was scared of Lincoln abolishing slavery, they thought it would be a wise decision to secede from the Union. In fact, Lincoln had no plans of abolishing slavery, but stated that it should not spread to the territories. The South basically misunderstood and decided to secede anyway. The reason slavery was so important to the South, and lead them to break apart from the Union was that it

At Zachary Taylor's request California adopted a constitution that forbade slavery and in December 1849 he asked Congress to admit California as a free state. He also stated that New Mexico should be granted statehood, and they should have the chance to decide whether or not to be a slave state. Congress hesitated because of so many other altercations on slavery that were complicating the debate. One of these complications was that the anti-slavery forces wanted to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, a desire that was rancorously resisted by southerners. The biggest problem, however, was the South's fear that two new free states would add to the northern majority. In 1850, Henry Clay, the front man of the issue, tried to take separate proposals that were made at separate times and wrote a compromise. In the legislation, presented to the Senate on January 29, 1850, were the provisions that California was admitted as a state; the abolition of slave trade, but not slavery, in the District of Columbia; and a new and more effective fugitive slave law. This compromise, however did not solve anything and, in fact, it only made matters worse. After a long time of arguments and debates, the younger men of the Senate took the lead. The older men had basic broad ideas which made them unable to produce a compromise. This “temporary compromise” was made up of separate measure that were voted on one by one. That way representatives of different sections could support the elements of the compromise that they favored and oppose the ones that they didn't. The Compromise of 1850 ended up being a victory of bargaining and self- interest instead of being an agreement on common national ideals. So really, they didn't solve anything, they simply voted in their own

In efforts to better understand the Civil War most historians examine the Sectional Crisis and the Compromise of 1850 in the decades leading up to the worst years in American History. Some historians prefer to focus on the underlying theme of the war, others tightly examine individual leaders, events, and political parties, connecting them all together like puzzle pieces to define the years prior to the war. Despite the contrasting views, it is clear to realize the constant prevailing issues of the Antebellum Period, the Sectional Crisis and the Compromise of 1850. In particular, the Compromise of 1850 is deceivingly taught as only establishing 3 pivotal elements: the status of slavery in future territories (popular sovereignty), California statehood, and the fugitive slave law. Granted these elements of the compromise provide a great amount of controversy long after their birth, but one element of the compromise perceives to fail in obtaining recognition. The Texas-New Mexico boundary resolution seems to find itself fading away from its relevancy to the civil war, shadowed by more prominent issues regarding the stability of the Union. Abandoning the traditional teaching of the compromise, the Texas-New Mexico border decision figuratively and literally changed the identity of Texas. This was the long awaited result caused by deep rooted social and political issues dating back to the Texas Revolution.