Omar Bennett
The Compromise of 1850 was a series of bills passed in the Senate that temporarily defused the issue of slavery in the United States by admitting California as a free state. The debate over the Compromise of 1850 centred around the issue of slavery in new territories, with the Southern position being that slaves were property and could therefore be moved to these territories. The Compromise of 1850 was opposed by many Northerners, who were displeased by the Fugitive Slave Act, which allowed slave owners to recapture fugitive slaves without due process. This debate over slavery would continue throughout the late 1850s, culminating in the Lincoln-Douglas debates and eventually, the American Civil War.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Year | 1850 |
| Name | Compromise of 1850 |
| Purpose | To defuse tensions between the North and the South over the issue of slavery in new territories |
| Outcome | California was admitted as a free state, and Texas was allowed to keep certain portions of disputed land |
| Impact | Postponed the American Civil War for a decade; laid the groundwork for future conflict |
| Related Events | Wilmot Proviso (1846-1850); Fugitive Slave Act (1850); Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854); Lincoln-Douglas debates (late 1850s) |
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What You'll Learn
The Compromise of 1850
The five bills that made up the Compromise of 1850 were:
- The admission of California as a "free state".
- The establishment of a territorial government for Utah and New Mexico, with no restrictions on whether any future state from this territory would be a slave or free state.
- The definition of a boundary between Texas and the United States, settling a dispute between Texas and New Mexico.
- The abolition of the slave trade in Washington, D.C.
- Amendments to the Fugitive Slave Act, making it easier for slave owners to recover runaway slaves.
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The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
The Act had a significant impact on the prospects of escape from slavery, particularly in states close to the North. It contributed to growing polarization between the North and the South, with Northerners fearing a slave power conspiracy. It also led to the founding of the Republican Party and heightened tensions that ultimately culminated in the American Civil War.
In response to the Fugitive Slave Act, the Vermont legislature passed the Habeas Corpus Law in November 1850. This law required Vermont judicial and law enforcement officials to assist captured fugitive slaves while also establishing a state judicial process parallel to the federal process. This effectively rendered the federal Fugitive Slave Act unenforceable in Vermont and sparked a national controversy, with some arguing that it was a nullification of federal law.
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The Wilmot Proviso
The Proviso was a response to President James Polk's attempt to acquire territory from Mexico during the Mexican-American War. On August 8, 1846, Polk proposed an appropriation bill allocating $2 million for purchasing territory from Mexico as war reparations. Wilmot, a Democratic Representative, quickly moved to amend this bill, proposing to ban slavery in any newly acquired lands. Wilmot's amendment was strategically introduced at the last minute, as he aimed to pass it without giving time for opposing legislators to attach riders of their own.
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The Missouri Compromise
The Compromise admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, with the Senate quickly linking the two bills, making Maine's admission a condition for Missouri's entry into the Union as a slave state. The Missouri Compromise also prohibited slavery in the remaining Louisiana Purchase lands north of the 36°30′ parallel, which included parts of present-day New Mexico, Arizona, and southern California. This provision lasted for 34 years until it was repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which effectively repealed the Missouri Compromise.
The Compromise was very divisive, and many were concerned that it had lawfully divided the country along sectarian lines. The Missouri Compromise was also criticised by some northerners who believed that Texas did not deserve monetary compensation, and by southerners who objected to any federal restrictions on slavery, considering it a state issue. The Compromise delayed the Civil War by a decade, but it also laid the groundwork for future conflict by making pre-existing sectional divisions more obvious.
The Compromise of 1850, which admitted California as a free state, temporarily defused the issue of slavery in new territories. However, tensions continued to rise, fuelled by events such as the publication of the anti-slavery novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in 1852, and the Dred Scott decision in 1857, which struck down the Missouri Compromise and provisions of the Compromise of 1850, contributing to the American Civil War.
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The Dred Scott Decision
In 1846, Dred Scott and his wife, Harriet, sued for their freedom in St. Louis Circuit Court with the help of antislavery lawyers. They claimed that they were free due to their residence in a free territory where slavery was prohibited. They had lived with their enslaver, an army surgeon, at Fort Snelling, and then in the free Territory of Wisconsin. The Scotts believed their freedom could be established on the grounds that they had been held in bondage for extended periods in a free territory and were then returned to a slave state. Courts had ruled this way in the past, and the odds were in their favour.
However, the case became a protracted legal battle that reached the Missouri Supreme Court in 1850, which ruled that Scott was still a slave under Missouri law. Scott then filed a new federal suit, which ultimately reached the US Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled against Scott, stating that he was not an American citizen and therefore could not establish the "diversity of citizenship" required for a US federal court to exercise jurisdiction over the case. The Court also struck down the Missouri Compromise, which prohibited slavery in US territories north of the 36°30′ parallel, as it interfered with slave owners' property rights under the Fifth Amendment.
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