Final answer:
The Compromise of 1850 sought to mitigate the sectional tension over slavery in new territories by enacting a series of measures, including admitting California as a free state and allowing Utah and New Mexico to decide on slavery through popular sovereignty, but it ultimately deepened the North-South divide.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Compromise of 1850 was a series of legislative measures intended to ease tensions between the North and South over the issue of slavery in newly acquired territories. It included the admission of California as a free state, the establishment of Utah and New Mexico territories with the question of slavery to be determined by popular sovereignty, the settlement of Texas boundary disputes with compensation, the abolition of the slave trade in Washington, D.C., and the enactment of a stricter Fugitive Slave Act. However, rather than resolving the underlying conflicts, the Compromise further heightened sectional divisions, leading many to believe that it only served as a temporary fix, setting the stage for increased hostilities that eventually resulted in the Civil War.