The Compromise of 1850

Henry Clay John C. Calhoun Zachary Taylor

Daniel Webster Millard Fillmore

For starters, we need to look at the election of 1848. Remember that James K. Polk was elected in 1844. Why did he not run for re-election?:

He had accomplished all of his goals.

In 1848, a successful general from the Mexican War, Zachary Taylor was elected president. When he became president, there were 15 slave states and 15 free states. This maintained a balance in the Senate.

"Old, Rough, and Ready"

California had a surge in population in 1849 due to the discovery of gold. California petitioned for statehood soon after, wanting to join the Union as a free state. The problem was that this would upset the balance in the Senate.

Many Southerners feared they would be outvoted in Congress. Some even supported secession from the Union. Northerners felt that California should enter as a free state because most of the territory was above the Missouri Compromise (36° 30') Line.

I AM THE GREAT

COMPROMISERAND ALL I

GET IS THISSTUPIDT-SHIRT

Henry Clay, now 73 years old, wanted the North and the South to compromise. This earned him the nickname, “The Great Compromiser.”

John C. Calhoun of South Carolina disagreed. He said the following:

…how can the Union be saved? To this I answer, there is but one way by which it can be – and that is by adopting such measures as will satisfy the states belonging to the southern section so that they can remain in the Union consistently with their honor and their safety.

The South asks for justice, simple justice, and less she ought not to take. She has no compromise to offer by the Constitution and no concession or surrender to make. She has already surrendered so much that she has little left to surrender.

But can this be done? Yes, easily…the North has to do her duty by causing the laws relative to fugitive slaves to be faithfully fulfilled.

If you, who represent the stronger portion, cannot agree to settle these questions…Let the states we both represent separate and part in peace.

Daniel Webster of Massachusetts was frightened by these comments. He worried that the states could not separate without a Civil War. Though he despised slavery, he feared a war would be far worse. He said:

“Mr. President, I wish to speak today not as a Massachusetts man, but as an American. I shall speak today for the preservation of the Union…I see…no grievance presented by the South – but the want for proper regard to the injunction of the Constitution for the delivery of fugitive slaves…(US Constitution Article IV: Section 2)

Secession! Peaceable secession is an utter impossibility…I will not state what might produce the disruption of the states, but, Sir, I see it as plainly as I see the sun in heaven – I see that disruption must produce such a war as I will not describe.

Webster was willing to compromise and agree to the South’s demand that fugitive slaves be returned. President Zachary Taylor did not agree. He wanted to allow California to join, even as a free state, and demanded loyalty to the Union. When a Southern Congressman threatened secession if Taylor did not change his policy, Taylor responded fiercely, saying:

“I informed [him] that if they were taken in rebellion against the Union, I would hang them with less reluctance than I had hung deserters and spies in Mexico!”

HOWEVER...On the 4th of July in 1850, President Taylor sat in the roasting sun watching an independence celebration. To cool down, he drank a lot of “chilled” milk and ate a large quantity of cherries. He then suffered from gastroenteritis, inflammation of the intestinal tract, and died a week later.

Millard Fillmore succeeded him as the nation’s 13th president.

John C. Calhoun had died that same year in March after catching tuberculosis.

President Fillmore followed the policies of the Whig party much more closely than Zachary Taylor had. He agreed that the Compromise of 1850 was the only reasonable solution to the problem. Although he hated slavery, he supported Henry Clay’s compromise.

Compromise of 1850

1) California entered the Union as a free state.

2) The Mexican Cession was divided into New Mexico and Utah where voters would decide if the territory was to be free or slave.

3) The slave trade was ended in Washington D.C.

4) A Strict Fugitive Slave Law required all citizens to help catch runaway slaves. Anyone who helped slaves escape was fined $1000 and given 6 months in jail. Judges were paid $10 to send slaves back to the South and only $5 to set them free.

5) A border dispute between Texas and New Mexico was settled.

(The Fugitive Slave Law convinced the South to agree to the compromise.)