The Compromise of 1850 was intended to solve a debate caused by victory in the Mexican War (1844-48). In the Peace of Guadelupe Hidalgo, the United States annexed nearly half of Mexico. Abolitionists argued that new territories should be made, by Congressional mandate, entirely free of enslaved people; the southern states, on the other hand, pressed for the new territories to be able to choose whether to be slave or free. The Compromise of 1850 allowed for the territories to choose their status and in addition, it included a harsh new Fugitive Slave Law demanding that all citizens assist in the recovery of escaped enslaved people. It placed heavy penalties on any who helped them escape. Further, any suspected enslaved person could be arrested solely on the word of an enslaver. This placed all African-Americans at risk, whether they were enslaved or free, since they could be held without any due process. The law enraged many communities in the North, some of which passed resolutions pledging civil disobedience in the face of what they saw as an illegal and immoral law.
Greenfield Gazette and Courier. “Legislature- slave hunting petition.” February 13, 1860. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l02-106/. Accessed on October 16, 2024.
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