The Fillmore Presidency was another stop on the long road to the Civil War. When Fillmore assumed office, he made it very clear that he desired a compromise. Thus, he pushed for the passage of the Compromise of 1850, which was actually several laws made into one. Fillmore hoped that the Compromise would calm the nation's troubled waters, but in fact, it did the exact opposite. The Compromise admitted California as a free state, New Mexico and Utah as territories without specifying a policy on slavery, affirming the principle of popular sovereignty, or letting the local government decide the issue. In addition the infamous Fugitive Slave Law was implemented and slave-trading was banned in Washington D.C. However, as I mentioned before, the compromise failed to heal the nation's divisions. Northern abolitionists were enraged by the Fugitive Slave Law, and Southerners were dismayed by the banning of slavery in California and D.C. They also doubted that the Fugitive Slave Law would be enforced. Throughout the rest of his term, Fillmore continued to try to appease both sides. He viciously tried to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law on several occasions, and ordered the strengthening of South Carolina forts in an effort to give southernors second thoughts about secession. However, by trying to please everyone, Fillmore had in fact pleased no one. Fillmore failed to realize that appeasement was no longer a possible solution, not in the 1850s. Indeed the Compromise of 1850 was not really a compromise at all. It was merely a series of laws designed to appease both sides. Leadership was needed in the 1850s, not appeasement. A strong leader in the 1850s could've prevented the horrors of the Civil War. Appeasement never works. It was appeasement and ineffective leadership in 1850s that allowed the south to gain the strength to secede in 1861. The Compromise of 1850 resulted in increased anger on both sides, and gave the South the impression that the government would buckle to their demands. Indeed, it is my belief that the nation would've been better off without the Compromise of 1850.