The Compromise of 1850 resolved the issue of slavery in Utah and New Mexico through popular sovereignty. The new Utah Territory and New Mexico Territory were allowed, under popular sovereignty, to decide whether to allow slavery within their borders.
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills which defused a four-year political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired during the Mexican–American War. It was passed by the United States Congress.