Pre-Civil War Apush

The 1850s were a time of attempted compromise when compromise was no longer possible. The Union was becoming divided through many events in the time leading into the Civil War. The North and South had too many hostilities to account for. Socially, the North and the South could not stand what the other would do or say with anything. Politically, the government was completely divided and undecided. And economically, the South began to prosper as the North began to struggle. Thus, during the 1850s, socially, politically, and economically there was not any compromise that could fix the problems beginning to occur. In the 1850s, the North and South could not agree on anything and were in constant disagreements. In 1850, Henry Clay created the Compromise of 1850. In the compromise, it was said that California would be admitted as a free state which created a stir in the South since it would mean that the amount of Free states and slave states would be unbalanced (Shown in Document B). The North would now have power of the Senate and superiority over the South. The country would give Texas ten million dollars if they gave up claims to Mexico. This would take away a large piece of territory for a relatively low sum. There would be abolition of slave trade in Washington D.C., but not slavery. This meant that emancipation of slavery in the nation’s capital was starting. Also, Mexico and Utah’s slave status rested on popular sovereignty which leaned toward Free State status due to the incompatibility of the plantation system with the environment. Then, there would be a Fugitive Slave Law put in to place which would compel local officials to capture and return runaway slaves along with denying them jury trials, which some congressmen were against (Document F). Daniel Webster also delivered the Seventh of March speech backing this compromise up as everyone else did not like the idea and explained why he thought it was necessary (Document A). This caused the South distress