Chapter 56: The new Democrat leader, Stephen Douglas, passes the 1850 Compromise.

Henry Clay makes a final plea to pass the Omnibus Bill on July 31, 1850. Its failure is a sad note ending his magnificent career serving his nation. With no way forward, he leaves DC for good and heads home to his Ashland plantation.

Douglas recognizes that, taken together, Clay’s bill faces too many individual opponents, and he solves this by dividing it into a series of five smaller measures, passing them one at a time.

• California admission by 27-18;
• Texas border by 30-20;
• Pop Sov in Utah/New Mexico by 27-10;
• Curtailing DC slave trading by 27-19; and
• The tougher Fugitive Slave Act by 28-12.

It will prove to be another band-aid on the wounds rather than a solution.