Henry Clay's compromise in 1850 consisted of a series of laws aimed at resolving the ongoing debate over the spread of slavery in the territories acquired from the Mexican-American War. The compromise included allowing California to enter the Union as a free state, creating the territories of New Mexico and Utah with the question of slavery to be decided by popular sovereignty, abolishing the slave trade in Washington D.C., and introducing a stricter Fugitive Slave Law. The compromise was an attempt to appease both Northern and Southern interests in order to prevent secession and maintain unity in the Union. Despite its intentions, the compromise ultimately failed to fully resolve the issue of slavery and tensions continued to rise leading up to the Civil War.
