jan 29, 1850 - The Compromise of 1850 Jan. 29, 1850

Description:

-Proposed by Stephen Douglas and Henry Clay
-when presented as a complete package, it was defeated in congress
-Douglas decided to break it up into separate bills
-the bills admitted CA as a free state at the price of enacting harsher fugitive slave laws
-they also created the territories of NM and UT leaving their slave status up to them when it came time for them to write their constitution, reinforcing the concept of popular sovereignty
-also abolished the slave trade, but not slavery itself
-b/c popular sovereignty is so vague, Northerners and Southerners could interpret the law differently to suit their own positions
-Abolitionists considered the new fugitive slave laws as coercive, immoral, and an affront to their liberty
-Anti-slavery sentiments in the North grew stronger in 1852 with the publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin, which awoke antislavery sentiments in million who had never before given the issue any thought

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