1850 Compromise

• Outcomes:

  California Becomes a free state

  Utah/New Mexico become organised territories ruled by popular soveringty

  Slave trading, but not slavery, to end in Washington DC

  Texas/New mexico dispute settles.
• Henry clay ('the great compromiser' - for his work in missouri compromise) January 1850 he offered the senate the outcomes as a base for compromise.
• Texas/New mexico dispute: texas should surrender the disputed land to new mexico. In return, congress would assume the 10 million public dept that texas owed.
• Clays proposition was debated in congress. Feb - clay gave a speech defending his proposals and warned the south against succession.
• While the debates occuring in congress: Calhoun declared that the north was responsible for the crisis as northerners threatened slavery. If threats continues southern states would have to leave the union.
• President Taylor opposed Clays proposals. He felt california AND new mexico should be admitted as a free state immediately and southerners should 'deal' with it.
• The nashville convention - 9 slave states met to discuss succession. 6 slave states did not attend. Therefore it had a negligible impact.
• Death of Taylor - Vice president Fillmore became president. He was a northerner, but was sympathetic to the south. Fillmore made large cabinet changes and supported the compromise proposals. However, in July the bill was defeated in congress (most northern voted against).
• Douglas - after the bill was defeated, Senator douglas 'replaced' Clay and submitted each part of the proposals as a separate bill. This meant Southerners/northerners were able to vote for the parts that benefited them. By september all parts of the compromise had passed.
• people in congress only voted for what they want. The compromise has skirted over the problem of slavery, rather than settled. It provided no formula to guide the future.
• By the end of 1850, the south had decided against succession, for now
• Both north and south had resentment towards the compromise.
• Evaluation: compromise, much like missouri compromise, maintained the peace and made no solution for the future.
• Outcomes of the compromise:

  California becomes a free state

  Utah/New Mexico become organised territories ruled by popular soverignety

  Slave trading (not slavery) ended in Washington DC.

  Fugitive slave act

  Land resolutions between texas and new mexico.