Compromise Measures of 1850 also known as the Compromise of 1850. This act was a series of five legislative enactment’s passed by United States Congress. Many territories from the west were now asking for admittance into the United States as an official state. This brought many questions to the table. Today at a meeting many other states followed California as they applied to enter into the union. This will be a problem for the north and south. Before now there were 15 free states and 15 slave states. Another problem was that the runaway slaves were protected.
The south grew very angry and wanted something to be done about it there were no laws to catch the runaway slaves. For many of the slave owners they could not remember whom they looked like. So they came up with ID numbers for their wrist. Former leader of the war hawks Henry Clay, now Senator of Kentucky purposed a compromise. Personally this is a good act for the free states and the slave states. His proposal was in our favor that California be a free state and that the slave trade be abolished with Washington D. C. It kept a balance between the slave states and also the free states.
For the little babies in the South was that New Mexico be divided into two territories. These territories are New Mexico and Utah. That and these two territories would be by popular sovereignty. Which for the southerner were giving the right to choose for their selves whether they wanted to be slave or free. Clay also, proposed that they would be enforcing the strict new fugitive slave law giving that anytime a runaway slave escapes to the north you must help the slave owners. Congress excepted Henry Clay’s plan, but had no effect on the question of slavery.
The northerner’s called the fugitive slave laws “a hateful statue of kidnappers”. Our fellow abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote a book called Uncle Tom’s Cabin, betraying the cruelty for slave life in the south. The book was outlawed in the south and anyone who owned it was thrown into prison and fined. What’s wrong south can’t handle the truth? After Congress passed the Compromise of 1850 they were involved in settling a dispute over Texas. There were four candidates and their names were Thomas Benton, John Bell, Henry Clay and James Pearce.
Each candidate had their own theory on how Texas should be divided. Thomas Benton wanted to split Texas up into two states. John Bell wanted to split Texas up into three states. Henry Clay wanted no provision for further subdivision of Texas. James Pearce’s plan was very similar to that of Clay’s plan but set no boundaries. The Pearce Plan was adopted on September 9, 1850. Texas lost almost one-third of its territory under this plan. As part of the settlement Texas was compensated a sum of $10,000,000 which in turn paid off their pre-statehood debts.