The Fugitive Slave Act

The discussion of slavery has always been comprised of two sides, that of the Southerners and the Northerners. Such division between North and South was primarily rooted in the economic concerns. The North with developed industry could sustain themselves without slavery, whereas the South required it for survival. Economy doesn't change in one day, so the conflict between the two sides continued. In 1850, Henry Clay, also known as "the great compromiser", formed a compromise that would supposedly bring a permanent peace between the North and South. With the rising sectional conflict over slavery, a settlement might have seemed urgently in need. But the Compromise of 1850 was comprised of a new component, slightly different from any other ones in the past: the Fugitive Slave Act. In fact, there was a similar set of laws proposed in 1793, which was called the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. But the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 further affected the North. Now any Northerners were subject to the same penalties for helping fugitive slaves. If Henry Clay had succeeded with the Missouri Compromise by deliberately apportioning rewards to each South and North, this time he failed because he lost the grasp of balance. The Northerners considered the new Fugitive Slave Act quite intrusive, and tension grew, consequently. Instead of bringing permanent peace, Henry Clay had introduced an irrevocable source of dispute.

This piece of history reveals to us that no compromise can be permanent.