“I would rather be right than be president,” declared Senator Henry Clay regarding the question of finding a solution to the country's burning issue during the mid-1800s. Also if Clay lost the 1849 presidential election to Zachary Taylor, he was determined to find a solution to the prevailing debate in America over whether slavery should be extended into the new territories. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo had officially ended the war with Mexico, and political warfare in the United States was a growing issue. Part of the treaty forced the Mexicans to give up tracts of their land, including Texas, California, and all lands in between. This left Americans in the difficult situation of whether or not to admit California into the Union as a free state, thus making the relationship between free states and slave states unbalanced. Since the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the balance between slave states and free states had been maintained, but California began petitioning Congress to enter the Union as a free state. Because Texas was a slave state, they claimed land north of the 36°30' slavery dividing line established by the Missouri Compromise of 1820. However, the Texas annexation resolution required that if new states were formed from Texas Territory; land north of the Missouri Compromise line would become a free state. As Clay worked for months to develop a compromise to solve the nation's problem, he received help from Stephen Douglas, a young Democrat from Illinois. On January 29, 1850, after several other people suggested failed ideas, the two men introduced a series of bills that were introduced to Congress. California's wish was granted and California entered as a free state, officially disrupting the balance between the states. The second bill...... middle of document......istory.hanover.edu/courses/handouts/footnotes.htm >(October 6, 2013).Kennedy, David M., et. al. The American competition; A history of the American people. 14th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2006. McConnell, Eleanor H. “Compromise of 1850.” In Rohrbough, Malcolm J., and Gary B. Nash, eds. Encyclopedia of American History: Expansion and Reform, 1813 to 1855, Revised Edition (Volume IV). New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2010. American History Online. Facts on File, (December 14, 2013).PBS. The Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Law. PBS. (December 11, 2013). Rozwenc, Edwin C. The Compromise of 1850: Problems in American Civilization. Boston: D.C. Heath and Company, 1957. Waugh, John C. On the Brink of Civil War: The Compromise of 1850 and How It Changed the Course of American History. Delaware: SR Books, 2003.