- Admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, maintaining the balance of power in the Senate.
- Established a dividing line at 36°30' north latitude, stipulating that any new states north of this line would be free, while those south of it could allow slavery.
2. Compromise of 1850:
- Admitted California as a free state, organized the New Mexico and Utah territories without specifying their slavery status (leaving it up to popular sovereignty), established a stricter fugitive slave law, and ended the slave trade in Washington, D.C.
3. Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854:
- Repealed the Missouri Compromise, allowing the settlers in Kansas and Nebraska to determine their slavery status through popular sovereignty.
- Created two new territories, Kansas and Nebraska, north of 36°30' north latitude, effectively repealing the Missouri Compromise.
- This decision fueled conflict between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces in the territories and led to the "Bleeding Kansas" crisis.
While these compromises temporarily averted full-scale conflict between the North and South, they failed to address the deep-rooted differences in values and economic interests between the two regions and ultimately proved insufficient in resolving the growing tensions that eventually led to the American Civil War in 1861.