HISTORY - choose 1 of the questions to answer - Essay Example

This paper will talk about the conditions that led to the provision of the Compromise of 1850. The paper will also talk about the issues that this compromise left unsettled. By 1850, there were just 14% of slaves present in the entire populace of the United States (Baxamusa 1). Slavery and the slave trade became nearly absent in the northern states. However, there were roughly 51% slaves still present in Mississippi and 58% in South Carolina. Mid September of 1850, the United States Congress, took a number of measures to resolve the issues concerning slavery and forestall Secession.

The country, therefore, created the Compromise of 1850. Missouri developed into a state in 1818 (Baxamusa 1). However, the settlers wanted the region to continue being a slave state. The political leaders of the north states, in contrast, did not fancy a slave state. Maine, during the same year, also wanted to be acknowledged as a state under the Union. Thus, in 1820, an accord referred to as the Missouri Compromise was reached, which permitted Missouri to continue being a slave state. Maine, nevertheless, was a slave-free state.

This brought about division in the country splitting the nation into two (Baxamusa 1). The southerners, after the Missouri Compromise, carried out all their affairs alone leaving out the northerners. The northerners, however, wanted to unite every state in the United States. After three decades of the Missouri Compromise, California requested to be included in the Union ruling out slavery. However, the Missouri Compromise also split California into two. This dilemma became even more complex owing to the unsettled question of slavery's expansion into other regions, which were offered by Mexico in 1848.

Political leaders of the north could not settle on whether or not they should allow California enter as a free state (Baxamusa 1). However, a United States Senator, Henry Clay, from Kentucky was determined to get a resolution to the crisis. Clay, at the age of 70, presented a negotiation on 29th January, 1850. This conciliation consisted of five bills, which would help resolve the nervousness between the free states of the North slave and the states from the South. Texas’ debt to Mexico was one of the leading circumstances, which lead to the 1850 Compromise (Baxamusa 1).

The compromise confirmed that Texas would give up the land in dispute. As a way of compensation, Texas would be offered $10 million, which could be used to settle its debt to Mexico. Territorial disputes between New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Utah were also vital circumstances that led to the creation of the 1850 Compromise. The country wanted to organize the territories of New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Utah without incorporating slavery in the matter. The United States congress wanted to find a way through which the inhabitants of these areas would decide upon slave trade and slavery when they wanted to be accepted as states (Baxamusa 1).

Slavery in the District of Columbia was also a crucial matter that led to the formation of this compromise. Northern congressmen previously wanted the slave activity in the District of Columbia to be abolished, but slavery was still allowed. California also wanted to be incorporated as a free state to the United States.