Compromise of 1850
For many years, this nation had been split between those that wanted slavery to be legal throughout every state and those that felt it should stay where it is. Once the U.S. acquired the new territories during Polk’s presidency the split intensified. The debate over whether or not California should be permitted as a free or slave state grew and became a major problem, as well as where the actual boundaries of Texas were and which states should be free or not. To solve these issues The Compromise of 1850 was drafted. The compromise was meant for both the North and the South to benefit, in doing so the compromise extended The Missouri Compromise Line, prohibited slave trade in the District of Columbia although slavery was still legal, lessened the boundary of Texas but gave them $10,000,000, allowed the new territories to decide whether or not they wanted to be a free or slave state when they applied for to be a state and passed the Fugitive Slave Law which said that northerners were required by law to return any runaway slaves to their southern owners.