Compromise of 1850, Fugitive Slave Act, and the Georgia Platform

The Compromise of 1850 kept both the north and the south happy and at peace despite their differences over slavery and economy; stating that whenever a free state was added, a slave state would be added, (and vice versa).  The north and the south wanted to have equal power in Congress to make sure neither side could dictate the other.  A new state wanted to join the Union as a non-slave state, which upset the southern states very much.  The north gained California;
while the south gained the promise that other territories could come in as slave states, and the Fugitive Slave Act.  Then, to appease the southerners, Congress said that they would enforce the Fugitive Slave Act.  This was an act where if any slaves escape to the north, they had to be sent back to the south instead of helped.  This made abolitionists in the north very upset, and slave owners in the south very happy.  As for the slaves trying to escape, it changed everything; they started trying to escape to Canada, and started traveling through the Underground Railroad.  The Georgia Platform was created, stating that whatever congress did that had to do with Slavery and Slave trade in Georgia should be ignored, and that the expansion of slavery into new territories cannot be banned.  All of this helped delay the war for a couple of years.

Fugitive Slave Act

Fugitive Slave Act. N.d. Photograph. n.p. Web. 15 Jan 2014. <http://new.gilderlehrman.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/inline-2col-full/content-images/01862.jpg>.