legislation passed by Congress by which California was admitted as a free state, part of Texas was given to New Mexico, the fugitive slave law was strengthened, and the issue of whether slavery would be permitted in New Mexico and Utah would be determined by a vote of the people living in those territories.
Compromise of 1850
The legislation being referred to here is the Compromise of 1850, which was a package of five bills passed by the United States Congress. The Compromise was an attempt to settle several contentious issues related to slavery that were dividing the nation.
California had recently applied for statehood as a free state, meaning that slavery would be illegal in that state. This was seen as a significant problem by the southern states who relied heavily on slave labor. To address this issue, the Compromise admitted California as a free state while also creating a new, more strictly enforced Fugitive Slave Act.
The Compromise also resolved the status of the territories of New Mexico and Utah; both territories were allowed to decide for themselves whether they would permit slavery or not through popular sovereignty. This was a point of significant contention as many in Congress wanted to completely prohibit slavery from expanding into the territories.
Part of Texas was also given to New Mexico as part of the Compromise. However, this was mainly a symbolic issue since Texas had been claiming a large portion of New Mexico’s territory for several years but had yet to exercise any real control over the area.
In summary, the Compromise of 1850 attempted to balance the interests of free states and slave states and avoid a potential Civil War by resolving open issues surrounding slavery.
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