Compromise of 1850: Slave Trade Ended in DC, Slavery Protected

The Compromise of 1850 included five bills: California admitted as free state; popular sovereignty in New Mexico and Utah territories; Texas boundary settled; the slave trade (but not slavery itself) abolished in Washington D.C.; and a dramatically strengthened Fugitive Slave Act. The end of the public slave trade in D.C. was largely symbolic since enslaved people were still held and sold privately there. The new Fugitive Slave Act, which required Northern citizens to assist in capturing freedom-seekers, was the South's key demand and proved the most explosive element.