<P> The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 , which defused a four - year political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired during the Mexican -- American War ( 1846 -- 1848 ) . The compromise , drafted by Whig Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky and brokered by Clay and Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois , reduced sectional conflict . Controversy arose over the Fugitive Slave provision . The Compromise was greeted with relief , but each side disliked some of its specific provisions : </P>
<P> The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 , which defused a four - year political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired during the Mexican -- American War ( 1846 -- 1848 ) . The compromise , drafted by Whig Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky and brokered by Clay and Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois , reduced sectional conflict . Controversy arose over the Fugitive Slave provision . The Compromise was greeted with relief , but each side disliked some of its specific provisions : </P>
who broke the compromise of 1850 into sections allowing it to get passed
who broke the compromise of 1850 into sections allowing it to get passed
Senator Henry Clay Senator Stephen Douglas
Senator Henry Clay Senator Stephen Douglas