Legal Document

The Compromise of 1850 is an Act of Congress. It defines laws and legal structures. Its primary purpose is to create legislation, rather than tell a story or inspire people with poetry (not everyone can be Stephanie Meyer).

Being a legal document, the Compromise sacrifices elegant prose, metaphors, and similar devices for the sake of being extremely, extremely thorough. The legislators had to make sure every detail of every law was covered, to avoid any creative interpretation of the rules. This means there's a lot of very long sentences and lots of repetition.

Also, the Compromise is a compilation of several different bills, which have different aims and were passed separately. So overall, it's broken down by statutes within the larger Compromise.

How it Breaks Down

Clay's Resolutions

The text starts off with Henry Clay's original eight resolutions proposed as the Compromise to the Senate. The final results are slightly different, but generally these summarize what the Compromise was aiming to accomplish. So if you need to quickly review the Compromise, it's a good summary.

Texas Borders and Government for New Mexico

Since New Mexico bordered Texas, the boundary dispute between the two was absorbed into the section that set up New Mexico's territorial government. Besides setting up that government, this part also talks about how big Texas is and how much money it's going to get from the federal government to compensate for giving up part of New Mexico.

California Becomes a State

California had already applied to be a state, so this short section says that in fact it is a state. Henry Clay immediately begins drawing up plans for Universal Studios' Harry Potter ride.

Establishing a Government for Utah

Here, they almost verbatim repeat the set-up for the government of New Mexico, but this time for Utah.

The Fugitive Slave Act

To make the existing fugitive slave law more effective, this one adds more governmental support for enforcing the law. It also requires everyone to chip in and help catch runaway slaves, including northerners who deplore slavery.

Banning the Slave Trade in Washington, D.C.

The last of the bills passed stops the trading or sale of slaves in the nation's capital. It also gives the government authority to break up anyone who dares set up a slave depot in the city. Slaveowning, however, is still permitted.