Compromise 1850 (Nash, 1998)

The Compromise of 1850, however, only delayed more serious sectional conflict. It added two new ingredients to American politics. The first hinted at the realignment of parties along sectional lines. Political leaders as different as Calhoun, Webster, Van Buren and New York senator William Seward all flirted with or committed themselves to new parties. Second, although repudiated by most ordiinary citizen, ideas like secessionism, disunion, and a "higher law" than the Contistution entered more and more political discussion. Some people wondered whether the question of slavery in the territories could be compromised awat the next time it arose.