• For about 30 years, the debate over slave and free states remained calm.  The U.S. then added new territory after the Mexican War in around 1848.

   

• In 1850, the Compromise of 1850 admitted  California to the Union as a free state and the remaining slave states were allowed to determine their faith by popular sovereignty. 

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• Washington D.C had the largest slave market in Nort America, but the Compromise of 1850 banned slave trade there.

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• ​There was a national debate between the antislavery(Northern) and proslavery(Southern) states to gain a political and economic advantage over the nation.

 

• Fugitives had no rights in jurying a trial, so the Fugitive Slave Act was passed.  The cases were managed by special commisioners who were payed $5 for if a fugitive was released and $10 if the captive was returned to slavery. 

 

• Around 20,000 blacks had left their homes and fled to Canada for freedom.  Many were captured and returned to slavery, even the freed blacks.