The document summarizes the events surrounding the Compromise of 1850 which aimed to defuse tensions between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces in the United States. It discusses the key players who proposed measures like Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, as well as those who opposed it like John C. Calhoun and President Zachary Taylor. After Clay's death and Taylor's opposition, Stephen Douglas helped shepherd the legislation to passage under President Fillmore, which admitted California as a free state but included stricter fugitive slave laws.