USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Henry Clay, known as “the Great Compromiser, ” brought about the Missouri Compromise of 1820.

Detailed explanation-2: -This time, Speaker of the House Henry Clay proposed that Congress admit Missouri to the Union as a state that allowed slavery, but at the same time admit Maine (which at the time was part of Massachusetts) as a free state.

Detailed explanation-3: -Seeking a way to settle the dispute and prevent disunion, Speaker Clay promoted a compromise to allow slavery in Missouri while simultaneously admitting Maine as a free state.

Detailed explanation-4: -If passed, the North would gain California as a free state and an end to the slave trade in Washington, D.C., while the South would get a stronger fugitive slave law and the possibility of western slavery through popular sovereignty. This compromise, Clay insisted, represented the “reunion of [the] Union.”

Detailed explanation-5: -Throughout his career, as senator, Speaker of the House, and secretary of state, Clay helped guide a fragile Union through several critical impasses. As senator, he forged the Compromise of 1850 to maintain the Union, but such compromises could not settle the fractious issues that ultimately resulted in Civil War.