Significance in American History
Besides the two topics discussed on the previous page, the Missouri Compromise of 1850 had several implications that would come in the future, shortly after it was enacted. It would leave behind a very unfortunate legacy of what would come in the decade of 1850-1860.
The major issue was what would come of future territories accepted into the United States. Would they follow popular sovereignty, or be considered free? This mainly applied to new territories in the central/southwest regions of the United States. The seeds were set by the Compromise of 1850, and sprouted with the horror that was "Bleeding Kansas".
Another problem with the compromise was something that is less known about the Compromise of 1850. In return for letting California enter the Union as a "free" state, a stricter Fugitive Slave Act was drafted. The new act held issues that angered many from the North, and stirred abolition movements from the North as a pressure to the new territories.
The major issue was what would come of future territories accepted into the United States. Would they follow popular sovereignty, or be considered free? This mainly applied to new territories in the central/southwest regions of the United States. The seeds were set by the Compromise of 1850, and sprouted with the horror that was "Bleeding Kansas".
Another problem with the compromise was something that is less known about the Compromise of 1850. In return for letting California enter the Union as a "free" state, a stricter Fugitive Slave Act was drafted. The new act held issues that angered many from the North, and stirred abolition movements from the North as a pressure to the new territories.
"Bleeding Kansas"This would be another major conflict of the decade, spurred by the issue of popular sovereignty in the new territory of Kansas. It was a fight over what Kansas would follow, and led to a very bloody conflict. It would also have future benefits/implications. Many people were able to sense that an even larger conflict was brewing. An excerpt from a North Carolina newspaper highlights this. "We, the people of Warren County, irrespective of party, view with the most profound and painful concern, the distracting issues growing out of the present relations between the slave-holding and the non slave holding states."
Blood was in the air, and people were realizing it early. Click on the image for more about "Bleeding Kansas"! |
Stronger Fugitive Slave ActThis part of the Compromise of 1850 is often overlooked. While the noticeable results of California gaining statehood were prevalent, this was another issue that put another nail in the coffin before the Civil War. The new implications of stricter slave laws led to the issue of runaway slaves being handled by the government instead of the state. An Ohio newspaper describes how northern states reacted to this. "Yet already Massachusetts is deeply agitated by the effects of this bill, and our own state begins to be convulsed by it. Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, will soon be ablaze with it." The newspaper goes on to explain how new members of the house will be elected to try to repeal this act, showing the level of anger the North had with the new Fugitive Slave Act.
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