Daniel Webster was an American statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in Congress. Webster contributed to the passage of the Compromise of 1850 which helped to appease a 4-year confrontation between slave and free states. Although he was opposed to numerous pro-slave policies the southern states proposed, he concluded that a full agreement between both sides was improbable and decided to accept some pro-slavery terms, such as Fugitive Slave provision in order to reach a compromise.