Chapter 53: In February 1850, Henry Clay offers up a complex Compromise .

Into the breech rides 72 year old Henry Clay a veteran of 43 years in DC and the past master of holding sectional conflicts in check. This time he crafts an Omnibus Bill in multiple parts:

• Admitting California as a Free State;
• Guaranteeing Pop Sov elections in the New Mexico and Utah territories;
• Allowing slaves to enter the Mexican Cession lands;
• Providing $10 million to Texas to resolve its boundary lines;
• Rejecting a proposal to end slavery in DC; and
• Passing a revised Fugitive Slave Law requiring active northern support.