362 Change of Political Power

362 Change of Political  Power 

 The control of Congress had now passed into the hands of the free states of the North . The majority of the Representatives had long been from the free states . Now more Sen - ators came from the North than from the South . This was due to the admis - sion of new states . Texas (1845) was the last slave state to be admitted to the Union . Two years later the admis - sion of Wisconsin gave the free states as many votes in the Senate as the slave states had . In 1850 the admis - sion of California gave the free states a majority of two votes in the Senate . This majority was increased to four by the admission of Minnesota in 1858, and to six by the admission of Oregon in 1859. The control of Congress had slipped forever from the grasp of the slave states .