Compromise of 1850

(noun)

A package of five bills, passed in September 1850, which defused a four-year confrontation between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican-American War (1846–1848).

Related Terms

  • Republic of Texas
  • Texas Santa Fe Expedition
  • Henry Clay
  • popular sovereignty
  • Fugitive Slave Law
  • freedmen

(noun)

The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five bills, passed in September 1850, which defused a four-year confrontation between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican-American War (1846–1848).

Related Terms

  • Republic of Texas
  • Texas Santa Fe Expedition
  • Henry Clay
  • popular sovereignty
  • Fugitive Slave Law
  • freedmen

Examples of Compromise of 1850 in the following topics:

  • The Compromise of 1850

    • The Compromise of 1850 left the question of slave versus free states to popular sovereignty.
    • Henry Clay, the leader of the Whig Party (nicknamed the "Great Pacificator”) drafted the following five compromise measures in 1850:
    • In the Compromise of 1850, popular sovereignty was not defined as a guiding principle on the slave issue going forward.
    • Nonetheless, the Compromise of 1850 was perceived by both sides as a success insofar as it staved off a greater escalation of sectional conflict.
    • Evaluate the impact of the Compromise of 1850 on the slavery debate
  • The Election of 1852

    • Supporters of President Millard Fillmore, who had succeeded to the presidency after the death of President Taylor, counted the Compromise of 1850 as a success on Fillmore's record.
    • However, Northern Whigs resented the Compromise of 1850, believing that the bill favored the slaveholding South.
    • Although Pierce hailed from the Northern state of New Hampshire, he defended the supremacy of states' rights as integral to maintaining a united nation and firmly supported the Compromise of 1850.
    • During his years in office, Pierce’s support of the Compromise of 1850—particularly his rigorous enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act—appalled and alienated many Northerners, including factions of the Democratic Party.
    • With the demise of the Whig Party, many Northerners, bitterly resenting the heavy enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act under Pierce, began to loosely coalesce with the emerging antislavery Republican Party.
  • Whigs and Democrats

    • The ensuing Compromise of 1850 allowed California to be admitted as a free state, but strengthened the Fugitive Slave Law and made no provisions for how other territories could address the slavery issue.
    • The Whigs were unable to effectively address the slavery issue after 1850.
    • There was no compromise that could keep the Whigs united, which contributed to the party's demise in the 1850s.
    • The deaths of Henry Clay and Daniel Webster that year severely weakened the party, and the Compromise of 1850 fractured the Whigs along proslavery and antislavery lines.
    • Yet by the 1850s, the issue of slavery divided the party even further.
  • The Mexican Borderlands

    • In 1845, the United States of America annexed the Republic of Texas and admitted it to the Union as the 28th state.
    • The resulting dispute among Texas, the federal government, and New Mexico Territory was resolved in the Compromise of 1850.
    • El Paso was only taken under Texas governance by Robert Neighbors in 1850, over four years after annexation.
    • The Texas/New Mexico boundary was not established until the Compromise of 1850.
    • Map showing approximately the area, known as Comancheria, occupied by the various Comanche tribes prior to 1850.
  • Bleeding Kansas

    • The events later known as Bleeding Kansas were set into motion by the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854, which nullified the Missouri Compromise and instead implemented the concept of popular sovereignty.
    • The rich farmlands and potential for development of infrastructure in the Kansas-Nebraska territories forced Congress to test the Compromise of 1850 by allowing settlers to determine whether or not slavery would be permitted in each region.
    • The resulting Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, drafted by Democrat Stephen Douglas (IL), repealed the Compromise of 1820 (which had previously closed Kansas to slaveowners) and put the Compromise of 1850 to the test.
    • The Compromise of 1820 had prohibited slavery in all new territories from the 36 degrees, 30' north latitude line to the Canadian border, effectively banning slavery in the Kansas territory.
    • The Compromise of 1850, however, had mandated that popular sovereignty would determine any new territory's slave or free status.
  • Conclusion: The Increasing Inevitability of War

    • A number of events contributed to the breakdown of sectional balance in the 1850s.
    • This prompted a series of measures, known popularly as the "Compromise of 1850," designed to appease both Northern and Southern congressmen and establish a more equitable balance of power.
    • The Compromise of 1850 was tested when a mass influx of settlers arrived in Kansas and Nebraska territories to determine through popular sovereignty whether or not slavery would be permitted in each region.
    • During his years in office, his support of the Compromise of 1850—particularly his rigorous enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act—appalled and alienated many Northerners.
    • After the Compromise of 1850, the Whigs were unable to develop a cohesive, unified response to the slavery issue, leading to their eventual demise.
  • The Fugitive Slave Act

    • The Fugitive Slave Act, passed in 1850, caused controversy and contributed to Northern fears of a "slave power conspiracy."
    • The Fugitive Slave Act was passed by Congress as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern slave interests and the Northern Free Soil movement.
    • The Fugitive Slave Act was one of the most controversial provisions of the 1850 compromise and heightened Northern fears of a "slave power conspiracy."
    • In response to the weakening of the original fugitive slave law, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 made any federal marshal or other official who did not arrest an alleged runaway slave liable to a fine of $1,000.
    • Many Northerners viewed the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act as evidence that the South was conspiring to spread slavery through federal coercion and force regardless of the will of Northern voters.
  • The Kansas-Nebraska Act

    • The allure of rich farmlands and the potential for infrastructure development in the Kansas-Nebraska territories put the Compromise of 1850 to the test.
    • The Missouri Compromise of 1820 had prohibited slavery in all new territories north of the 36° 30' latitude line, effectively banning slavery in the Kansas territory.
    • Douglas (IL), repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and mandated that popular sovereignty would determine any new territory's slave or free status.
    • Southern Democrats were pleased that the Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise, while Northerners (including Northern Democrats) decried the opening of territory to slave owners where slavery had previously been prohibited for more than 30 years.
    • Already a fractured party, the Whigs collapsed and made way for the Northern-dominated Republican Party: a coalition of Free-Soilers, Northern Democrats, and antislavery forces that bitterly resented the repeal of the Missouri Compromise.
  • The Underground Railroad

    • The network was formed in the early nineteenth century and reached its height between 1850 and 1860.
    • One estimate suggests that by 1850, 100,000 slaves had escaped via the "Railroad."
    • With heavy political lobbying, the Compromise of 1850, passed by Congress after the Mexican-American War, stipulated a more stringent Fugitive Slave Law.
    • Ostensibly the compromise redressed all regional problems; however, it coerced officials of free states to assist slave catchers if there were runaway slaves in the area and granted slave catchers national immunity when in free states to do their job.
    • Under the terms of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, when suspected fugitives were seized and brought to a special magistrate known as a "commissioner," they had no right to a jury trial and could not testify on their own behalf.
  • "A More Perfect Union"

    • While some compromises made at the convention would strengthen the new republic, other compromises would eventually tear the country apart.
    • Delegates eventually adopted the Connecticut Compromise (or the Great Compromise) which blended the Virginia (large-state) and New Jersey (small-state) proposals.
    • Finally, delegates agreed on the Three-Fifths Compromise, which was able to temporarily keep the young nation together.
    • However, it proved to be a little more than a bandage that unraveled by the 1850s, as the U.S. accepted the fact that freedom and slavery could not exist together unchallenged in their desired "more perfect Union. "
    • Identify the compromises Convention delegates made in order to create a More Perfect Union
Subjects
  • Accounting
  • Algebra
  • Art History
  • Biology
  • Business
  • Calculus
  • Chemistry
  • Communications
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Microbiology
  • Physics
  • Physiology
  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  • Sociology
  • Statistics
  • U.S. History
  • World History
  • Writing

Except where noted, content and user contributions on this site are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 with attribution required.