by Clarence Bell

Created on: October 22, 2009

The Compromise of 1850 was proposed by Senator Henry Clay and was one of the contributing factors of the American Civil War. The Compromise stated that:

California would be admitted into the Union as a free state.

The slave trade was abolished in Washington D.C. (This prohibited the selling of slaves. The institution of slavery was still legal).

The territory of New Mexico and Utah would be allowed to vote on the legality of slavery (a practice called popular sovereignty).

The Fugitive Slave Act was passed. This act required all citizens to aid in the capture and return of escaped slaves. If one failed to do so they could be tried for a federal offense.

At first glance one would think that the Compromise benefited the Northerners. In actuality, it does not. The Fugitive Slave Act became a topic of debate in the union. It solidified that blacks were property and did not have rights. Escaped slaves could not demand a trial by jury, yet the seventh amendment codifies the right to jury trial in certain civil trials.

Another issue of the Fugitive Slave Act was the slave hunters. Slave hunters would be employed by slave owners to track down escaped slaves. This led to free blacks being apprehended and sold back into slavery. Yes, this is unjust but blacks do not have the right to defend themselves since their right to jury trial was removed.

The Fugitive Slave Act enraged most Northerners, especially since the risk of being charged with a federal offense were hanging over their heads if they resisted. This feeling was solidified in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel entitled "Uncle Tom's Cabin" which was published shortly after the Compromise of 1850 passed. The Fugitive Slave Act forced the union to choose sides on the slavery debate. One could no longer be neutral. Either they were pro-slavery or pro-abolition. With such opinionated minds and rising tension in the country, war was inevitable.

The Compromise of 1850 birthed Stephen Douglas's Kansas-Nebraska Act. This act suggested that legality of slavery should be decided by popular sovereignty in all states, much like it was decided in New Mexico and Utah. The proposition enraged Northerners since it would serve to repeal the Missouri Compromise. Eventually a rally against the bill was organized by William Seward of New York. The incident served to widen the rift between the North and the South, a rift that would soon grow violent until the South threaten to secede, thus starting the Civil War.

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