The correct answer is:
D: Congress wanted to reach an agreement between the states instead of addressing the issue of slavery.
In 1850 the United States suffered a profound national crisis that threatened to split the nation between North and South over the issue of slavery in the new territories of California and New Mexico
The Compromise of 1850 defused the political dispute between slave and free states on the status of areas obtained during the Mexican–American War(1846–1848). Despite the compromise being greeted with relief, each faction complained about some of its provisions.