Answer: The Compromise of 1850 was meant to deal with new territory in the West without the country falling apart over the issue of slavery. To let California become a state without slavery, and to make Texas a little smaller, the North had to give the South something in return. The main concessions were money (to Texas) and a much stronger law to deal with runaway slaves. The Compromise also organized the territories of Utah and New Mexico (deliberately sidestepping the slavery question), and banned the slave trade in D.C. That's why it's called a compromise.