The Compromise of 1850 was a series of legislative measures passed by the United States Congress in an attempt to resolve the issue of slavery in newly acquired territories. The compromise included several provisions, such as the admission of California as a free state, the creation of the territories of New Mexico and Utah with the question of slavery to be decided by popular sovereignty, the abolition of the slave trade in Washington D.C., and the enactment of a stricter Fugitive Slave Law. The Compromise of 1850 was seen as a temporary solution to the growing tensions between the North and South over the issue of slavery, but ultimately failed to prevent the outbreak of the Civil War.
