Compromise of 1850: The Prologue
- Congress wants to settle the current tension over slavery.
- California should be admitted as a state, without Congress interfering with regards to slavery. They want to be a free state? Let them be a free state.
- Congress shouldn't make any laws about slavery in the new western territories. Slavery probably won't work there anyway.
- Texas ends at the Rio del Norte. It does not include any land that should be New Mexico.
- The federal government will pay off Texas's debt, in return for Texas giving up land that should be New Mexico. Plus they'll get $10 million.
- Congress shouldn't ban slavery in D.C. until it's banned in Maryland and they can compensate slaveowners for their losses.
- There should be a stronger Fugitive Slave Act.
States get to decide whether or not they allow slaves within their borders.