f Columbia 4. Give the land in dispute between Texas and New Mexico territory to the new territories in return for the federal government assuming Texas' public debt of $10 million. 5. Divide the remainder of the Mexican Cession into two territories: Utah and New Mexico- and allow settlers in these territories to decide the slavery issue by majority vote or popular sovereignty. The passage of the Compromise of 1850 bought time for the nation. Because California was admitted as a free state, the compromise added to the North's political power, and the political debate deepened the commitment of many northerners to saving the Union from secession. On the other hand, parts of the compromise became sources of controversy, especially the new Fugitive Slave Law and the provision for popular sovereignty. By the 1850's the Constitution had become a source of sectional discord and tension, contributed to the failure of the union, and no longer was an instrument of national unity. Although the compromises helped to solve the problem of the time, however they were delaying the inevitable and these helped lead to the Civil WarThe Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 kept tempers hot in the North. It provided that state and city authorities and even plain citizens should assist in the capture and return of runaway slaves. It was the passage of strict fugitive slave law that persuaded many southerners to accept the loss of California to the abolitionists and Free Soilers. The law's chief purpose was to track down runaway slaves who had escaped to a northern state, capture them, and return them to their southern owner. State after state passed Personal Liberty Laws. These forbade state officials or private citizens to assist federal courts in enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act. The law also tried to guarantee protection and a fair trial to runaways. Pierce had just become President of the United States and hoped that no sectional ambition or radical excitement mi...
