USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -In the 1850s, the conflict over slavery brought the United States to the brink of destruction. In the course of that decade, the debate over slavery raged in the nation’s political institutions and its public places. Congress enacted new policies related to slavery. The courts ruled on cases related to slavery.

Detailed explanation-2: -By 1850 sectional disagreements related to slavery were straining the bonds of union between the North and South. These tensions became especially critical when Congress began to consider whether western lands acquired after the Mexican-American War would permit slavery.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Compromise of 1850 consists of five laws passed in September of 1850 that dealt with the issue of slavery and territorial expansion. 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.

Detailed explanation-4: -The westward expansion carried slavery down into the Southwest, into Mississippi, Alabama, crossing the Mississippi River into Louisiana. Finally, by the 1840’s, it was pouring into Texas. So the expansion of slavery, which became the major political question of the 1850’s, was not just a political issue.