California and Utah's bid for statehood set off a decade of bitter struggle. The addition of more states ensured that the debate over slavery could not be avoided. Every attempt by Congress and the courts to resolve slavery disputes only increased the actions taken by each side in an attempt to protect their position. Over the course of the decade, tensions rose rapidly as North and South struggled for power. Both sides naively viewed the Compromise of 1850 as the end of the slavery debate. The provision admitting California as a free state shifted the balance of power in the Senate toward the free states. The balance of power in the Senate, divided evenly by the Missouri Compromise, was now a free-state majority. Furthermore, the agreement called for popular sovereignty to decide the issue of slaves in future states. Texas received debt relief in exchange for land. The compromise also abolished slavery in Washington DC. The only real gain for the South was the provision requiring a stricter fugitive slave law. The stricter slavery laws only increased tension as many in the North refused to comply with them. In 1854, Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act to create new territories. Stephen Douglass wrote the act in an effort to lure the transcontinental railroad to his hometown of Chicago. Douglass needed Kansas and Nebraska to become official territories to make it happen. Douglass believed the act would help Chicago economically and aid his hopes of becoming president by ending the Missouri Compromise. Popular sovereignty replaced geographic restrictions as the deciding factor on the issue of slavery. The opportunity to move slavery further north galvanized the South, and, outraged by the Paper Massacre, they devised a plan designed to create a slave revolt against their masters. Brown led twenty men and took control of an arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Brown failed to spread word of his plan among the slave population, and the siege turned into a stalemate. Ultimately, half of Brown's men were killed and Brown with the rest of his group were captured. Brown was quickly tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death for treason. Despite the colossal failure of his plan, Brown helped his cause by becoming a martyr to the abolitionist movement. The 1850s saw divisions between the North and the South in many parts of America. From California to the Capitol building, Americans have argued, denounced, written, beaten and killed in defense of their beliefs. These growing tensions led to civil war and the deaths of 600,000 people.Works CitedTextbook