Key People
This senator proposed many major compromises to keep the Union together.
Henry Clay
This law required escaped enslaved people to be returned to their owners.
Fugitive Slave Act
This war led to the United States gaining new western territory
Mexican-American War
This compromise temporarily reduced national tensio
Compromise of 1850
This is the growing disagreement between regions of the country over slavery and power.
sectionalism
This Southern leader strongly defended slavery and states’ rights.
John C. Calhoun
This agreement admitted California as a free state.
Compromise of 1850
This expansion created debate over whether slavery should spread
territorial expansion
This law increased anger in the North
Fugitive Slave Act
This describes the lack of trust between Northern and Southern leaders during the 1850s.
increasing tension
This senator supported national unity but faced criticism in the North.
Daniel Webster
This proposal tried to ban slavery in land gained from Mexico
Wilmot Proviso Act
This division between regions increased during the 1850s
sectionalism
This region became more opposed to slavery
North
This group opposed the expansion of slavery into new territories
abolitionists
This group of three leaders shaped the debate over slavery in the 1850s.
Senatorial Giants
This idea allowed settlers to decide if slavery would exist in their territory
popular sovereignty
This economic system in the South relied heavily on enslaved labor
plantation system
This region feared losing political power.
South
This group supported protecting slavery and states’ rights.
pro-slavery advocates
These leaders represented the major sectional divisions in Congress.
Northern and Southern politicians
This compromise attempted to balance free and slave states after territorial expansion.
Compromise of 1850
This issue became the central conflict in American politics
Slavery
This result happened because compromise failed to solve the slavery issue.
Sectional Tension
This situation describes the fragile peace created by compromise that did not last.
an uneasy peace