In 1850 the United States was in the midst of a sectional crisis. The primary issue was the growth of the nation and whether slavery would be allowed to expand beyond the Southern borders and into the western territories. Congress began debating a compromise designed to quell a rising secessionist movement throughout the South. The compromise proposed admitting California as a free state; organizing the territories of New Mexico and Utah without the mention of slavery, allowing the territories to determine the status of the institution; prohibiting the slave trade in the District of Columbia; passing a more stringent fugitive slave law; and settling the Texas boundary claims.

Although the compromise involved concessions by both the North and the South, it met with strong Southern opposition and a move toward secession ensued. The Governor of Georgia asked the General Assembly for authorization to call a state convention to determine the form of redress required should Congress enforce the acts against the institution of slavery. A State Convention then met in December 1850 in which the delegates chosen were overwhelmingly unionist.

The convention produced the official response of the State of Georgia to the Compromise of 1850, what became known as the “Georgia Platform.” The platform consisted of resolutions outlining Georgia’s conditional acceptance of the compromise. While the State of Georgia did not entirely support the measures proposed by Congress, it was willing to make concessions to preserve the Union. However, the delegates warned that further acts against the institution of slavery, including the unwillingness of the Northern states to comply with the Fugitive Slave Bill, would force Georgia to consider resistance. The endorsement of the Compromise of 1850 by the State of Georgia was soon followed by the other Southern states and the immediate national crisis was resolved.