ABSTRACT
THE NATION STOOD EQUALLY DIVIDED IN 1850 with a balance of fifteen slave and fifteen free states. When California petitioned for admission as a free state, the mounting sectional antagonisms threatened to disrupt the Union. Once more an adjustment resulted-the Compromise of 1850. The spirit of moderation now became manifest as the temperate forces rallied to avoid secession. The plan proposed the admission of California as a free state. New Mexico and Utah would be organized into territories without mention of slavery. It provided for the establishment of more efficient procedures for the return of fugitive slaves to their masters. Slavery would continue in the District of Columbia (unless Maryland thought otherwise), but the slave trade would be abolished in the nation’s capital. The Compromise called for federal compensation to Texas for territory ceded to New Mexico. North and South were compelled to sacrifice so that the Union could be preserved.
