Answer:
The reader is able to come to grips with Clay's predicament given the following:
- the escape of slaves through the Underground Railroad
- the controversies surrounding the Fugitive Slave Law
Step-by-step explanation:
The articles titled "Compromise" reveals the tensions which oscillate between North and South America's with regards to whether or not slave trade/ownership should exist.
It features Henry Clay also referred ts the “Great Compromiser" who tried to create a balance to ensure that an equal amount of states on both sides of the divide each had a little bit of what they wanted. Comprising of a total of 30 states at that time, there were 15 slave-free states and 15 slave-owned states.
So whilst Clay strived to create a balance, the Fugitive Law took effect which allowed people to catch slaves regardless of their status (Free or Not) try them and send them back to their owners. This happened predominantly in the South. The North was not happy with this. So the fact that people also helped slaves escape into Canada through the underground Railroad made Clay's job very difficult.
Eventually, after about 4 years of war spanning 1861 to 1865, the North and South reconciled their differences.
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