The role that compromise played was to keep a balance of free and slave states so the North and South would be happy. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 kept that balance for 30 years. Then came the Compromise of 1850. This compromise tried to settle the slavery question once and for all by making the North and South happy. The compromise allowed the slaves to work for the South, but it did not allow the slave trade to continue in Washington D.C. The Compromise of 1850 made an even stricter law which was the Fugitive Slave Act, the North just had to stop this act too. The Fugitive Slave Act made the North return the slaves back to their rightful owners. This railroad was for slaves that escaped from their owners and who had gone to the free states of the north. The South wanted to take the slaves back, but they had to show evidence to the U.S. Congress to prove they were their rightful owners. If they had no evidence the slaves would be free and would not go back and work for the South on the farms. The compromise was successful by keeping the nation united. This was only temporary until the South wanted to separate from the North. Then Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed in 1854. It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. The Act served to repeal the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery from the North. The Kansas-Nebraska Act made many in the North consider the Missouri Compromise to be a long-standing binding agreement. Though in the South it was strongly supported. Then came the election of 1860. South Carolina followed by six other states from the Union.South Carolina had warned it would withdraw if they won. Lincoln agreed with the majority of the Republican Party that the South was becoming too powerful and made it part of their platform that slavery would not be extended to any new territories or states added to the union. The Civil War had begun.