Compromise 1850 (Dorf, 2003)

Finally, Senator Stephen Douglas proposed a plan to unify the North and South. His idea was to divide Clay's plan into a series of bills. Members of Congress could vote for the bills they approved and not vote for the bills they opposed. The new laws, known as the Compromise of 1850, were passed by Congress. Many people thought that the compromise would settle the issue of slavery. It did prevent a war-- but only for ten years.