The Compromise of 1850

This page examines how slavery contributed to sectional conflicts in the 1850s and the details of the Compromise of 1850.

How did the Compromise of 1850 lead to the Civil War? While intended to defuse tensions, the compromise ultimately failed to resolve fundamental disagreements between free and slave states, pushing the nation closer to conflict.

Vocabulary: Sectional conflicts - Disagreements between different regions or sections of a country, in this case between the Northern and Southern states over the issue of slavery.

Slavery contributed to sectional conflicts in the 1850s due to:

1. Tensions over the expansion of slavery into new territories
2. Southern arguments that they needed slaves for economic survival
3. Northern fears about job competition from slave labor

The Wilmot Proviso of 1846 attempted to ban slavery in territories acquired from Mexico during the Mexican-American War, but its failure only postponed the issue.

Definition: Wilmot Proviso - An 1846 proposal submitted to the US Congress to ban slavery on territories obtained from Mexico during the Mexican-American War.

The acquisition of new territory from the Mexican-American War exacerbated the slavery problem by reigniting debates over whether these lands should be free or slave territories.

What did the Compromise of 1850 do? The Compromise of 1850 consisted of five separate bills passed by Congress to address the political confrontation between slave and free states:

1. California was admitted as a free state
2. Utah and New Mexico were allowed to choose whether to be slave or free states
3. The Fugitive Slave Act was strengthened

Highlight: The Compromise of 1850 was a series of five bills that attempted to defuse tensions between slave and free states, but ultimately failed to fully resolve the underlying issues.

The Turbulent 1850s

This page discusses key events in the 1850s that pushed America towards civil war and introduces important figures in the abolitionist movement.

What are the 3 main causes of the civil war? While there were many factors, three significant causes include:

1. The expansion of slavery into new territories
2. Growing abolitionist sentiment in the North
3. Political compromises that failed to resolve fundamental disagreements

Key events in the 1850s that pushed America to the breaking point included:

1. The Missouri Compromise
2. Nat Turner's Rebellion
3. The Compromise of 1850

Example: The Missouri Compromise admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state to preserve the Congressional balance. It also drew a line along the 36°30' parallel to separate free and slave territories in the west.

Who are the 12 Founding Fathers? While there isn't a definitive list of 12, some prominent abolitionists who fought against slavery included:

• Sojourner Truth
• Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Frederick Douglass
• Harriet Tubman
• William Lloyd Garrison
• Lucretia Mott
• David Walker

Highlight: Abolitionists were women and men committed to eliminating slavery and informing Americans about its horrors.

How bad was slavery during the Civil War? The brutality of slavery was brought to light through influential works like "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe. This anti-slavery novel had a major impact on the American public's perspective of slavery and contributed to the political climate that led to Abraham Lincoln's candidacy in 1860.

Quote: "Uncle Tom's Cabin had a major impact on the American public's perspective of slavery. In addition, it contributed to the political climate of 1860 and to Abraham Lincoln's candidacy, whose antislavery views had been widely publicized."