Issues over slavery and the balance of power between slave and free states has been part of the United States since is foundations-starting with the compromises made in the
U. S. Constitution. As the United States expanded and new territories were incorporated into
the Union the questions over the extension or exclusion of slavery in the new territories
became an important political question. This political question is one that became
increasingly fraught with tension as each side of the argument increased. Over the years
several compromises were attempted.
1. Missouri Compromise (1820) admitted Missouri to the Union as a slave state
and Maine as a free state to maintain the balance of power between slave and
free states
2. Compromise of 1850 resolved disputes over the slavery within the Mexican
Cession, new territory gained after the Mexican American War (California,
New Mexico, Utah). California was admitted as a free state. The New Mexico
and Utah territories could decide whether to allow slavery (popular
sovereignty).
3. Fugitive Slave Act required runaway slaves to be returned to their owners.
4. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) created the Kansas and Nebraska territories and
abolished the Missouri Compromise by allowing settlers to determine if
slavery would be allowed in the new territories (popular sovereignty). This led
to Bleeding Kansas, years of violence between Northemers and Southerners
who flooded Kansas to support oppose slavery.
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