Zachary Taylor became the twelfth President of the United States on March 4, 1849.
Death
While attending Fourth of July ceremonies in front of the Washington
Monument, President Taylor fell ill. Zachary Taylor became the second President to die in
office, on July 9, 1850.
Legislation
Compromise of 1850 Proposal
When California petitioned for statehood in 1850 it did so as a free state. The petition re-ignited the slavery question in Congress, and once again the South threatened secession. Henry Clay devised a compromise. He proposed that California be admitted to the Union as a free state; that a strict, enforceable fugitive slave law be instituted as federal law; that territorial governments be established in Utah and New Mexico without restrictions on slavery; that Texas release its claim on New Mexico in exchange for the federal governments assumptions of Texas' unpaid debts. Despite his being a southerner and a slave owner, President Taylor supported California's petition as is, and did not feel obligated to make concessions to the South. When the Compromise Bill of 1850 came before Congress, President Taylor swore that if it passed he would veto it. President Taylor died before the bill was passed.
