1. The “Compromise” of 1850

2. Missouri Compromise (1820)
Louisiana Territory
Indian Territory

3. Results of the Missouri Compromise (1820)
Missouri would join the United States as a slave state.
Maine would join the United States as a free state.
An imaginary line at latitude 36° 30’ would be drawn across the territory gained in the Louisiana Purchase. North of the line slavery was banned—except for Missouri.

4. More Land, More Questions….

5. Free Soil Party

6. Can you solve the problem and avoid a civil war?
The North does not want slavery in the new territories.
The South wants slavery in the new territories.
What should the United States do about new territories that apply for statehood?

7. The Missouri Compromise was only a temporary solution
The Missouri Compromise was only a temporary solution. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo granted the United States much more land than before.
So what to do with all of this land????

8. John C. Calhoun Henry Clay Daniel Webster
I want to seek the middle ground!
The SOUTH, er, UNION is in danger!!!
I AM AN AMERICAN!
There were 3 important senators who influenced the outcome of the Compromise of 1850

9. I wish to speak today, not as a Massachusetts man, nor as a Northern man, but as an American… HEAR ME FOR MY CAUSE!”

10. The Compromise of 1850
1. Congress would admit California as a free state
2. The people of the territories of New Mexico and Utah would decide for themselves whether slavery would be legal
3. Congress would abolish the sale of enslaved people in Washington, D.C.
4. Slavery itself would remain legal in Washington, D.C.
5. The Fugitive Slave Act would order all citizens of the United States to assist in the return of enslaved people who had escaped from their owners. It would also deny a jury trial to escaped slaves.

11. 1. Congress would admit California as a free state
What was unique about California? Why did it pose such a dilemma?

12. 2. The people of the territories of New Mexico and Utah would decide for themselves whether slavery would be legal
Popular sovereignty, let the people decide

13. “I have, Senators, believed from the first that
“I have, Senators, believed from the first that.. The subject of slavery would, if not prevented by some timely and effective measure, end in disunion [of the United States]… It has reached a point when it can no longer be disguised or denied that the Union is in danger. You have thus had forced upon you the greatest and gravest question that can ever come under your consideration: How can the Union be preserved?”
-Calhoun

14. Slavery Perspectives Then: Now:
Many Americans believed that stopping slavery was morally wrong, because it interfered with their liberty to own enslaved people as property. Government they believed, should protect this basic liberty.
Now:
Now, Americans oppose slavery because they view it as morally wrong to own another human being as property.