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Henry ClayCompromise of 1850
Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 1850A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Historical Context: The Missouri Compromise
In 1820, almost exactly 30 years before his Compromise of 1850 speech, Clay engineered the passage of the Missouri Compromise. In an already fraught political climate, in which tensions over slavery were high, the compromise had three main effects: Missouri entered the United States as a slave state; Maine entered as a free state; and slavery was prohibited in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase territory above the 36°30′parallel.
Achieving the Missouri Compromise was challenging. The Senate initially attempted to link the Maine and Missouri petitions for statehood, effectively ensuring that Missouri, a slave state, could not enter without free-soil Maine. With the addition of the 36°30′parallel compromise proviso, the linked bills passed the Senate—only to be defeated in the House by representatives still fighting for a free Missouri. Clay, with his pro-compromise allies, managed to push each component forward by dividing the bills once again and pressuring for compromise on each component individually.
The Missouri Compromise did not long outlive the Compromise of 1850, foreshadowing the deterioration of the latter. In 1854, with the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the Missouri Compromise was repealed. Only three years later, the Supreme Court ruled the Missouri Compromise to be unconstitutional in the Dred Scott decision, which stated that Congress lacked the authority to prohibit slavery in the territories.
The Mexican-American War
The conditions leading up to Clay’s Compromise of 1850 were set into motion by the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), which shortly followed the Texas Revolution. As more and more American settlers began to outnumber native Spanish speakers in Texas, the Mexican government tried to regain some control by re-instituting a property tax and increasing some tariffs, changes that were rejected by American settlers and Mexican businessmen alike. When Mexico closed Texas to further immigration, immigration continued illegally on the American side.
When General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana became president of Mexico, he attempted to squash the spirit of independence in Texas. Though he was victorious at the Alamo, he was later captured at the Battle of San Jacinto, where he signed a treaty recognizing Texas as an independent state. However, the Mexican government didn’t recognize the treaty, which was signed under duress.
In 1844, when Polk was elected, he attempted to purchase California, New Mexico, and the rest of what is now the American Southwest. After his election, Polk moved soldiers into a disputed area south of the Nueces River but north of the Rio Grande, sparking a war that the United States would eventually win by taking over Vera Cruz and marching toward Mexico City. With the war won, the US government had to figure out how to integrate the acquired land into the country, ultimately leading Henry Clay to give his speech before the House in 1850.
