What is Compromise of 1850?
[[File:The making of the American nation; a history for elementary schools (1905) (14595017308).jpg|thumb|right|350px|{{Center|The United States in 1850}}]] The '''Compromise of 1850''' was a series of [[law]]s passed in 1850 that dealt with the [[controversial]] issue of [[slavery]] in the [[United States]].<ref name=comp1850HIST>{{cite web |url=http://www.history.com/topics/compromise-of-1850 |title=Compromise of 1850 |website=History |publisher=A&E Television Networks, LLC |access-date=30 October 2016}}</ref> As a result of the [[Mexican–American War]], the United States acquired a large amount of new [[territory]].<ref name=comp1850PBS>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2951.html |title=The Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act |website=Judgement Day (part 4) |publisher=WGBH/PBS |access-date=30 October 2016}}</ref> The laws admitted [[California]] as a [[Slave and free states|free state]], and created the new territories of [[New Mexico Territory|New Mexico]] and [[Utah Territory|Utah]].<ref name=comp1850HIST/> A dispute over the boundary between [[Texas]] and New Mexico was settled with Texas losing the New Mexico territory. It put an end to the [[slave trade]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] and made it easier for [[Southern United States|Southern]] [[Ownership|slave owners]] to recover [[wikt:runaway|runaway]] slaves. The [[compromise]] called for each new state to decide for itself whether it would be a slave or free states. The commerce and trade compromise ended the slave trade and eventually led to the [[Emancipation Proclamation]]. == Background == The [[Missouri Compromise]], passed in 1820, was an agreement between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the [[United States Congress]].<ref name=mocompLOC>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Missouri.html |title=Missouri Compromise |website=Web Guides |publisher=The Library of Congress |access-date=December 5, 2016}}</ref> It concerned the regulation of slavery in the western territories.<ref name=mocompL