Henry Clay Proposes the Compromise of 1850: Slavery Debate Rages
He was the Great Compromiser, and this might be his masterpiece. Clay's omnibus bill was a political high-wire act: California enters as a free state, New Mexico and Utah get popular sovereignty on slavery, Texas gets its borders, and a brutal Fugitive Slave Act that would force Northerners to return escaped slaves. Twelve years from civil war, this was the last grand bargain. But Clay was dying, his voice weak, his body failing—and he knew this might be his final attempt to hold the fractured republic together.
January 29, 1850
176 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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