USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -In 1849, Californians sought statehood and, after heated debate in the U.S. Congress arising out of the slavery issue, California entered the Union as a free, nonslavery state by the Compromise of 1850.

Detailed explanation-2: -In 1849 California requested permission to enter the Union as a free state, potentially upsetting the balance between the free and slave states in the U.S. Senate. Senator Henry Clay introduced a series of resolutions on January 29, 1850, in an attempt to seek a compromise and avert a crisis between North and South.

Detailed explanation-3: -In a precarious effort to balance the concerns of Southern slave-holding interests and those against slavery’s expansion, Congress cobbled together the Compromise of 1850. The series of bills admitted California as a free state, while also granting important concessions to the South.

Detailed explanation-4: -The area of California was never organized as a territory, but was administered from 1848 to statehood by a federal military authority. California was admitted to the Union on September 9, 1850, as the 31st state.

Detailed explanation-5: -By 1852 approximately three hundred black slaves worked in the gold fields. These slaves were brought over by southern slaveholders, who did not seem to fear bringing them into California even though it was technically a free state.