Compromise of 1850

Matthew Nunnally Adrian Morales Background

● The Compromise of 1850 was a debate whether the new states entered into the Union were going to be free or slave states. ● The Compromise of 1850 contained five laws passed within congress ● The laws passed were a direct result of the war with Mexico and the new land gained for the United States. ● The key people involved with the Compromise of 1850 was a Kentucky senator known as Henry Clay and Illinois politician Stephen Douglas. ● Slavery drove the Compromise into action. Background

● This is a map from the Compromise of 1850 ● It contains the new states and territories added to the Union. ● Red is slave states, green is free states, and yellow is still deciding whether they will or will not be slave states. ● The yellow is also resulted in the Compromise of 1850 Key People

● Henry Clay was a Senator from Kentucky who had a very active role as to what will be decided for new states added to the Union. ● Also the people that lived in the new states were important because they had to vote on the new propositions that the congress and senate were creating. ● The legislative branch also had to be active because they needed to resolve the problem in the new states. Key People

Henry Clay delivering his speech to the United States senate about the Compromise of 1850. Clay and Douglas

● These two key individuals drafted one of the most controversial bills before the civil war. ● Deciding what will be done with the new territories and the Fugitive Slave act.

Henry Clay of Stephen Douglas of Kentucky Illinois States Added to the Union

● California ● Arizona ● Texas ● New Mexico California

● Because of popular sovereignty the states were allowed to decide for themselves to be free or slave states. ● When California entered the Union it was decided to become a free state and that was approved by the government. ● Upset balance between free and slave states. ● The California Gold Rush was taking place starting in 1848 which made a lot of people move to California in hopes of becoming rich. ● The southern colony wanted slavery to spread to the Pacific coast because growing land for cotton was becoming less and less. ● Southern California was mainly Hispanic and did not have slavery previously. California

California was added as a free state into the United States due to the Compromise of 1850. Arizona/New Mexico Territory

● Arizona was part of the New Mexico territory. ● Because of the Mexican Cession a large portion of territory was founded by the United States because of the Mexican-American War. ● The New Mexico Territory had not yet decide whether it will become a slave state but was still open to vote. ● Many settlers moved into the new territory to sway the balance of the vote on slavery to either expand it or prevent it from expanding. ● Contained much of nowadays New Mexico and Arizona. ● Also contained a little of Nevada and Colorado. Arizona/New Mexico Territory

The portion directly to the right is the New Mexico Territory. It was free or slave yet. Texas

● A main territory gained from the Mexican-American War and where the first settlers to the west of the Mississippi River that started the conflict. ● It became a slave state to balance the conflict between the North and the South. ● Texas was home to many hostile natives that were soon relocated. ● Once Texas became a slave states many cotton farmers moved over and expanded slavery to its peak point. ● Originally was an independent republic of Texas . Texas

Texas a new territory gained from the Mexican American War became a slave state because of the Compromise of 1850. Fugitive Slave Act

● Slave owners were losing slaves because the slaves were escaping so the new law imposed was the Fugitive Slave Act. ● If any slave was found off the plantation they would be arrested and taken back to the plantation. ● The downsides to this new imposed law was that an african-american who has not been a slave or was freed could be arrested and taken back to the south to work on plantations. ● The enforcers of the law were paid ten dollars if an escaped slave was found and taken back but only got five dollars if an african-american was taken but found not being a slave. Fugitive Slave Act

● Because the enforcers were only gaining money they brought more people even if they were not a slave. ● It was enforced over all of the north and families were split up because of the law. ● This was a major event that led up to the start of the Civil War. Fugitive Slave Act Bibliography

"Compromise of 1850." Compromise of 1850. Library of Congress, 10 Sept. 2008. Web. 7 Sept. 2014.

Remini, Robert V. Henry Clay: Statesman for the Union. New York: W.W. Norton, 1991.

Maltz, Earl. "Fugitive Slave Laws." Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, 2 Jul. 2014. Web. 8 Sept. 2014.

Smith. "1848 Mexican American War." Umich.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Sept. 2014.

"Stephen A. Douglas." US History. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Sept. 2014.