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After the Mexican War, the United States was stuck in a period of impending crisis. Tensions concerning the introduction of slavery into new territories continually spurned bitter debate between southerners and northerners. As such, several sects developed all promoting particular ideas concerning slavery and the acquisition of new lands. Although Sherwood already aptly summarized the various groups, I still find it helpful to briefly restate them.
First, many supported popular sovereignty, which dictated that the people in the territories should decide whether or not they wanted to be slave states or free states. As Wilentz previously discussed in earlier chapters, Lewis Cass was a strong purporter of popular sovereignty, although it proved ineffective in his run for the White House. Next, some individuals, like Henry Clay, encouraged the reinstatement of geographical boundaries to define slave states versus free states. In theory, had this principle been adopted, it would have extended the border previously defined in the Missouri Compromise. Thus, many northerners discarded the idea, as it would have ceded too much land to the South. In contrast to such compromises, individuals like John C. Calhoun emphasized non-exclusion, which laid out a rigorous argument that any act by Congress to impair the right to take property, i.e. slaves, into a territory would be unconstitutional. Finally, in response to such harsh disputes, many also favored exclusion policies. Exclusionists generally favored the Wilmot Proviso, which would have mandated that all new territories would join as free states. Not surprisingly, the bill did not pass in the Senate, even though it passed through sectional lines in the House.
After thorough debate concerning the continuation of slavery, Congress passed the Compromise of 1850. Essentially, the bill marked Clay’s, Webster’s, and Calhoun’s final legislative battle and sought to please different sections of the country. Although the bill struggled initially, Stephen Douglas eventually helped in breaking apart the bill and passing individual sections. Ultimately it stipulated that California would enter the Union as a free state, that there would be clear borders between Texas, that the the U.S. would assume Texas’ debt, that the sale of slaves in the District of Colombia would be abolished, and that there would be a stronger fugitive slave law instated.*
As A.J. accurately observed, the Compromise of 1850 hardly confronted the issue of slavery as it only delayed conflict, rather than settling the issue entirely. That being said, the larger question becomes whether or not the Civil War was inevitable. That is to say, had the Compromise of 1850 truly confronted slavery in the United States, would the conflict have been entirely avoidable?
*Incidentally, Wilentz’s discussion of abolitionist literature in the middle of the chapter reminds the reader that the Compromise of 1850 inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin.