Today we read about the compromise of 1850 proposed by Henry Clay and its basic tenets. We learned about a controversial part of the Compromise of 1850 called the Fugitive Slave Act and why it divided the nation even further; it required Northern citizens to assist slave-catchers and denied fugitives a fair trial. The North hated it and some practiced Civil Disobedience. We learned about this essay, written by Henry David Thoreau, and about Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, depicting the harsh realities of slavery, which was one of the most influential books of the 19th century.