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The Civil War: The Compromise Of 1850

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The Compromise of 1850 was a series of five bills that were intended to avoid sectional conflict. There were many bills that were in the beginning combined into one "omnibus" bill , but failed to pass senate because only a minority approved the fixations. These new bills were: 1) California was entered as a free state, 2) New Mexico and Utah were each allowed to use popular sovereignty to decide the issue of slavery, 3) The Republic of Texas gave up lands that it claimed in present day New Mexico and received $10 million to pay its debt to Mexico, 4) The slave trade was abolished in the District of Columbia, and 5) The Fugitive Slave Act made any federal official who did not arrest a runaway slave liable to pay a fine. During Millard Fillmore's …show more content…

Texas' western boundary was highly contended. The republic of Texas had succeeded from Mexico. It had been let into the United States and claimed territory that is now a modern day Mexico. Texas was also in debt. They owed almost ten million dollars to the state which couldn't be easily paid. The compromise was for the state to pay all of the debt while Texas let Mexico become a territory. California on the other hand was building up with growth in their population due to the gold rush the previous year. A state convention adopted an antislavery state in late 1849. They later applied for acceptance into the union as a free …show more content…

This law prevented runaway slaves from going and settling in free states legally. The law also opened the doors wide open for more slaves to follow the Underground Railroad which lead to free states such as Ohio. The northern states weren't in complete agreement with this law so they rarely enforced it, which made the southern slave owners enraged. During this time, continuous, unsuccessful slave rebellions were taking place, which increased the number of slaves escaping to the north. This caused friction to occur between the north and south. This act also made any federal Marshall or other official who did not arrest an purported runaway slave responsible to pay a fine of one thousand dollars. Law enforcement officials all over the United States had a job of arresting anyone who even looked like they were a fugitive. The only evidence that was needed was a claimant's sworn testimony of ownership. The slave was not allowed to ask for a jury trial or testify on his or her behalf. “In no trial or hearing under this act shall the testimony of such alleged fugitive be admitted as evidence.”(FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT OF 1850, SECTION). Also, anyone who was abiding a runaway slave by providing a house of food was sent to prison for six months , and a one thousand dollar fine. Taking the law to this extent was to ensure that all the slaves were staying in line of the

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