More Land
- Following the Missouri Compromise, more disagreement over maintaining balance of slavery and freedom in the country
- 1848: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, following Mexican-American War from 1846-1848, gave America half of land in Mexican possession for $15 million
- Known as the Mexican Cession, US was able to acquire significantly more land, adding to tension over the slavery issue (“Mexican Cession”)
- Popular sovereignty, process of allowing inhabitants of a territory decide the status of the state with regard to slavery, introduced to western territories at this time
Compromise of 1850
- Solution to the continuing problem of what could be done about slavery
- Compromise passed: California admitted to Union as free state, slave trade in Washington, DC ended (Northerners supported these parts)
- For the South: Fugitive Slave Act passed (increasing punishment for helping a slave escape), organized territories of New Mexico and Utah (McArthur 19, 21; Compromise of 1850).
- Changes in geography of the United States greatly influenced future events in Kansas