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Reasons For The Compromise Of 1850

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Reasons For The Compromise Of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a series of measures proposed by Henry Clay. It was passed by Congress in an effort to settle outstanding issues with slavery and to avert the threat of dissolution of the Union. The crisis arose from the request of California admitted to the Union as a free state. The problem was complicated by the unresolved question of slavery’s extension into other areas ceded by Mexico the preceding year. Clay’s purpose was to maintain a balance between free and slave states and to satisfy both proslavery and antislavery forces. The plan involved California's admission as a free state, upsetting the balance of free and slave states that the Senate was concerned about; the Texas boundary was finalized on its current lines and, …show more content…
This was largely due to the fact that he created the Compromise and was able to convince Congress the issues he covered were important enough to act upon them. With Clay's position and reputation among the Senate, he easily persuaded Congress to pass the Compromise. Stephen Douglas was a U.S. politician who lead the fight in Congress for the Compromise of 1850. Henry Clay is mainly credited with creating the rule in the Compromise where the areas surrounding Texas would become Utah and New Mexico, but Douglas was the one who pitched the idea to Clay. This contribution to the Compromise was important because it showed Douglas' ability to develop new ideas and plans that Henry Clay couldn't. Stephen Douglas and Henry Clay are significant figures because without their contributions to the Compromise, the United States wouldn't have developed strong enough laws to prevent the maintaining of the equilibrium among the power of the states.
A divided nation due to slavery in territories gained in the Mexican-American War were resolved in the Compromise of 1850. The importance of the Compromise lies on the continuation of peace achieved by the Missouri Compromise, despite sectionalism. The views from the North and South were contradictory, but the Compromise made them reach a temporary equilibrium regarding politics. It accomplished what it wanted to achieve at the time: to revitalize the Union and maintain

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