Antebellum Period: Compromise of 1850, Fugitive Slave Act, and theGeorgia Platform.

Henry Clay Drafting the Missouri Compromise
Source:MPI/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

          When California asked for statehood, they wanted to be admitted as a  free state. However, according to the Missouri Compromise, California would have to be split in half. To avoid this, Congress came up with an entirely new compromise which was drawn up by Henry Clay. Slavery was abolished in Washington D.C. . Texas gave up its land for $10 million which would be used to pay off its debt to Mexico.California was to be admitted as a free state so long as the Fugitive Slave Act -  a law that stated all escaped slaves must be returned to their owners, and that anyone caught assisting runaway slaves would be incarcerated without trial - was passed (It was becoming common for slaves to flee North). The Georgia Platform agreed to the Compromise of 1850 under the condition that the Fugitive Slave Act was enforced in the North.  

Map of the Missouri Compromise
Source: www.pbs.org