Compromise of 1850
Matthew Nunnally
Adrian Morales
Background
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The Compromise of 1850 was a debate whether the new states entered
into the Union were going to be free or slave states.
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The Compromise of 1850 contained five laws passed within congress
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The laws passed were a direct result of the war with Mexico and the new
land gained for the United States.
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The key people involved with the Compromise of 1850 was a Kentucky
senator known as Henry Clay and Illinois politician Stephen Douglas.
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Slavery drove the Compromise into action.
Background
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This is a map from the
Compromise of 1850
It contains the new states and
territories added to the Union.
Red is slave states, green is
free states, and yellow is still
deciding whether they will or will
not be slave states.
The yellow is also resulted in
the Compromise of 1850
Key People
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Henry Clay was a Senator from Kentucky who had a very
active role as to what will be decided for new states added
to the Union.
Also the people that lived in the new states were important
because they had to vote on the new propositions that the
congress and senate were creating.
The legislative branch also had to be active because they
needed to resolve the problem in the new states.
Key People
Henry Clay delivering his speech to the
United States senate about the Compromise
of 1850.
Clay and Douglas
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These two key individuals drafted one of the most controversial bills
before the civil war.
Deciding what will be done with the new territories and the Fugitive
Slave act.
Henry Clay of
Kentucky
Stephen Douglas of
Illinois
States Added to the Union
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California
Arizona
Texas
New Mexico
California
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Because of popular sovereignty the states were allowed to decide for
themselves to be free or slave states.
When California entered the Union it was decided to become a free state
and that was approved by the government.
Upset balance between free and slave states.
The California Gold Rush was taking place starting in 1848 which made a
lot of people move to California in hopes of becoming rich.
The southern colony wanted slavery to spread to the Pacific coast
because growing land for cotton was becoming less and less.
Southern California was mainly Hispanic and did not have slavery
previously.
California
California was added as a free state into
the United States due to the Compromise
of 1850.
Arizona/New Mexico Territory
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Arizona was part of the New Mexico territory.
Because of the Mexican Cession a large portion of territory was founded
by the United States because of the Mexican-American War.
The New Mexico Territory had not yet decide whether it will become a
slave state but was still open to vote.
Many settlers moved into the new territory to sway the balance of the
vote on slavery to either expand it or prevent it from expanding.
Contained much of nowadays New Mexico and Arizona.
Also contained a little of Nevada and Colorado.
Arizona/New Mexico Territory
The portion directly to the right is
the New Mexico Territory. It was
free or slave yet.
Texas
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A main territory gained from the Mexican-American War and where the
first settlers to the west of the Mississippi River that started the conflict.
It became a slave state to balance the conflict between the North and
the South.
Texas was home to many hostile natives that were soon relocated.
Once Texas became a slave states many cotton farmers moved over and
expanded slavery to its peak point.
Originally was an independent republic of Texas .
Texas
Texas a new territory gained from the
Mexican American War became a slave
state because of the Compromise of 1850.
Fugitive Slave Act
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Slave owners were losing slaves because the slaves were escaping so the
new law imposed was the Fugitive Slave Act.
If any slave was found off the plantation they would be arrested and
taken back to the plantation.
The downsides to this new imposed law was that an african-american
who has not been a slave or was freed could be arrested and taken back
to the south to work on plantations.
The enforcers of the law were paid ten dollars if an escaped slave was
found and taken back but only got five dollars if an african-american was
taken but found not being a slave.
Fugitive Slave Act
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Because the enforcers were only
gaining money they brought more
people even if they were not a
slave.
It was enforced over all of the
north and families were split up
because of the law.
This was a major event that led
up to the start of the Civil War.
Fugitive Slave Act
Bibliography
"Compromise of 1850." Compromise of 1850. Library of Congress, 10 Sept. 2008. Web. 7 Sept. 2014.
Remini, Robert V. Henry Clay: Statesman for the Union. New York: W.W. Norton, 1991.
Maltz, Earl. "Fugitive Slave Laws." Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, 2
Jul. 2014. Web. 8 Sept. 2014.
Smith. "1848 Mexican American War." Umich.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Sept. 2014.
"Stephen A. Douglas." US History. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Sept. 2014.