Compromise of 1850 Theme of Slavery

Let's be real: the Compromise of 1850 is all about slavery. It was motivated by slavery, it makes decisions about slavery, it includes laws about slavery. The whole thing started when California wanted to enter the Union as a free state, threatening to overturn the equal representation the southern slave states had in the Senate.

All of the different statutes or bills in the Compromise deal with slavery in some way. Can it exist in this territory? What happens if a slave escapes? Is it cool to buy you some slaves in Washington D.C.? These are the questions the legislation tried to answer.

We can't imagine abolitionist northerners were too happy about being drafted into posses to chase runaway slaves. Ditto the southerners whose entire economy and way of life was made possible by the "peculiar institution," and were mighty unhappy when they thought that the system of slavery was under threat. Compromise or not, the nation would soon be blasted apart over the issue.

1. How does the Compromise of 1850 fit into the national discussion of slavery over the course of the antebellum era in America?
2. What are the different ways that slavery is addressed in the different parts of the Compromise?
3. Reading the text, can you get a sense of the author's opinion of slavery? What about the audience's?
4. What other major development(s) in American history at the time of the Compromise of 1850 directly influenced the slavery discussion?

There was no way for the Compromise of 1850 to be about anything other than slavery, because of the integral role slavery played in the southern economy.

Think about it, folks. It was our pretty recent history that educated political leaders were screaming in the Senate about not being able to keep African Americans as their personal property.