Congress was constantly trying to find ways to "solve" the issue of slavery in American society. It first started with the Missouri Compromise. This established that the institution of slavery would not exist north of the 36'30 for any new states added during the era of westward expansion. However, this would not last forever as the adding of California after the Mexican-American War became a problem. This is because the 36'30 cut the state into two parts and the US did not want a half free half slave state.
This resulted in the creation of the Compromise of 1850. However, this law would not solve the issue of slavery. Rather, it just pushed the problem further down the road.
The Mexican American war had almost doubled the size of the United States. This had led to the debate on what Northerners and Southerners should do with it (regarding slavery states).
