Contains pictures of the actual pages of the speech written by John C. Calhoun containing his views opposing the Compromise of 1850. Links to Daniel Webster's introductory remarks in favor of the compromise.

A preview of will prompt the passage of the Compromise of 1850. Read about California's bid for statehood as a free state.

A collection of forty-four primary resources including historical documents, literary texts, visual images, and maps, illuminated and contextualized by notes, thematic questions, and text-specific discussion questions for classroom...

Presents key ideas for examining the events and issues that led to the American Civil War.

A fictional depiction of the turmoil over the existence of slavery-and its human impact.

Students will use a copy of the Wilmot Proviso and a map used by President Polk in an address to Congress to debate whether territory acquired through the Mexican War should be free or slave states. This debate in Congress served as a...

Scroll through this scholarly site from the National Humanities Institute to find information about the Whigs' role in the Compromise of 1850 and the end of its political clout by the election of 1852.

Thomas Rusk's Oath of Citizenship, Report from San Jacinto, and Letter on the 1850 Boundary Compromise are found here. You will see a picture of the original document, and a typed translation.

By reading this section of a chapter on "Westward Expansion," students will be able to describe the terms of the Wilmot Proviso and the Compromise of 1850, discuss why the Free-Soil Party objected to the westward expansion of slavery and...

This site titled, "From Revolution to Reconstruction," provides excerpts from the text of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, part of the Compromise of 1850.

The official site for the Henry Clay Estate presents a biography and a timeline of important events in Clay's life. Other topics of interest: Henry Clay the Statesman, the Attorney, the Farmer, Henry Clay and Abraham Lincoln. Click on...

A map of the United States showing the effects of the Compromise of 1850. The map is keyed to show the free states and slave states, and notes California admitted to the Union as a free state; the Nebraska Territory as free by the...

A map of California, the Utah Territory, and the New Mexico Territory in 1850 showing the effect of the Compromise of 1850, a series of bills intending to settle the issue of slavery and abolition raised in the territories after the...

A map of the United States showing the results of a test vote of the Compromise of 1850 in the House of Representatives. The Compromise of 1850 was a series of bills attempting to resolve the territorial slavery controversy following the...

A map of California and the western territories at the time of the Compromise of 1850. The compromise was a series of bills dealing with the slavery issue, and under its provisions California was admitted to the Union as a free state,...

In this lesson, students learn about the balance between slave states and free states and their geography, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850.

This page from the American Revolution Project of the University of Groningen discusses how the 1850s were a time of conflicting ideas between North and South regarding the expansion of slavery. Scroll down to the third paragraph and...

Describes the events leading up to the start of the American Civil War. Looks at clashes between pro- and anti-slavery groups, the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the fight over California, the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act,...

See what turmoil resulted from the acquisition of new territory after the Mexican-American War. There was great disagreement between those who wanted to abolish slavery and those who wanted to be able to carry slavery into the new lands....

A concise review of the ways the issue of slavery split the country from the Missouri Compromise to eventual secession of the southern states.

The Compromise of 1850 did not solve all the slavery issues in the territories, which was not surprising. Read about the Kansas-Nebraska Act, put forth by Sen. Stephan Douglas, who proposed that the issue be decided by popular...

Read about these three titans of the Senate from 1812 until their deaths in the 1850s. Their last struggle against each other was the issue of slavery. See how Henry Clay, the great compromiser, offered one last compromise to try to keep...

Here you will find the primary source text of the case and the opinions of the Supreme Court Justices in the Scott v Sandford case which ultimately ruled on the constitutionality of the Missouri Compromise.

[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart contains information about the renewed debate over the spread of slavery after the Mexican War. It describes the Wilmot Proviso, popular sovereignty, the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive...