The Compromise of 1850, with its balance of power between slave and free states, supports Graebner's argument on the dynamic changes in federal power and regional interests during the pre-Civil War era.
- One development in the 1840s or 1850s that supports Graebner’s argument is the compromise of 1850.
- This series of laws addressed the balance of power between slave and free states following the Mexican-American War and the annexation of new territories.
- The Compromise included the Fugitive Slave Act, which heightened tensions between North and South, but it also allowed California to be admitted as a free state and gave the territories of New Mexico and Utah the right to decide on slavery through popular sovereignty.
- This development supports Graebner's argument by showing how territorial expansion and the subsequent legislative efforts to manage the growth of slavery were pivotal to the changing dynamics of federal power and regional interests in the pre-Civil War United States.