California became the 31st state in the United States on September 9, 1850. Californians initially petitioned for statehood in 1949. After heated debate in the U.S. Congress arising out of the slavery issue, California entered the Union as a free, non-slavery state because of the Compromise of 1850, which created the territories of New Mexico and Utah and modified the Fugitive Slave Act to allow for apprehension of runaway slaves for return to their masters, and abolished the buying and selling of slaves in the District of Columbia.