Compromise of 1850: Congress Delays Civil War
The Compromise of 1850 was actually five separate bills, signed into law by President Millard Fillmore in September 1850, designed to resolve the crisis over slavery in the territories acquired from Mexico. California entered as a free state. Texas surrendered claims to New Mexico territory in exchange for $10 million in federal debt relief. The slave trade (but not slavery itself) was abolished in Washington, D.C. New Mexico and Utah territories were organized with popular sovereignty on slavery. And the Fugitive Slave Act required Northern states to return escaped slaves, with heavy penalties for anyone who aided runaways. The compromise delayed the Civil War by eleven years but satisfied no one permanently. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin in direct response to the Fugitive Slave Act.
September 9, 1850
176 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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