Question

Why would Americans view the Compromise of 1850 as a final solution to the sectional controversy that began with the Wilmot Proviso in 1846?

Answer 1

Wilmot Proviso which was designed in 1846 after the Mexican American war was an effort to abolish slavery in the territories occupied after the war. However, it was unsuccessful as the Southern states wanted to keep slavery and threatened to move away from the union. This led to the 1850 compromise with five different bills that not only included California as a state but also allowed the Southern States to keep slavery. Although the failure of 1846 was the original reason for the civil war, the 1850 compromise was an effort to keep the country together as one nation. The country was divided into equal slave and non-slave states with the 1850 compromise. Thus, the Compromise of 1850 was a final solution to the sectional controversy that began with the Wilmot Proviso in 1846 although the 1850n compromise also gradually failed and led to the inevitable civil war that abolished slavery forever, at least in paper.

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