|
Cause
Henry Clay composed this series of bills. It shrank Texas to its current day size and shape, and gave the state $10 million.
The Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico territories would all be allowed to choose whether or not to become slave holding.
The slave trade (though not the institution of slavery) would be forbidden in the District of Colombia. California was to
become a state (with the exact boundaries then that it has today). Also, the Fugitive Slave Act was passed. It required all
citizens, even those of free states, to assist in the recovery of escaped slaves.
Effect
This biased 'compromise' favored the North greatly. It included California as a free state, thereby unbalancing the free/slave
state ratio in the senate. It also gave the North an unfair advantage when it came to Texas and its slave holding rights.
The outlawing of the slave trade in the District of Colombia was an undeniable infringement on states' rights. The Compromise
only postponed the Civil War for a decade, but this allowed the North to grow more wealthy and populous. The Compromise of
1850 bought the Northern states the time they needed to gain an unfair advantage over the South.
|
