The Compromise of 1850 held the Union together for another difficult ten years. The dispute was over the admittance of additional states while maintaining the balance between free and slave states.

The immediate question was the clamoring for California to be admitted to the Union as a free state. The debate was begun by a frail Senator Henry Clay, who called for a compromise between the North and South. Senator John C. Calhoun, who was dying of tuberculosis, gave his last speech in the Senate, in which he once again championed the cause of the South, yet called for compromise.

Finally, Daniel Webster, a prominent advocate for Northern interests, made a compelling plea for compromise to preserve the Union. It was Webster's persuasive argument that swayed many Northerners to accept the concessions, particularly the Fugitive Slave Law, which enabled the Senate to pass the compromise.

President Taylor opposed the compromise, but after his untimely death, his successor supported these bills, and thus the compromise was sealed.