Taking a Look at the Missouri Compromise

Tension had already been building up in the states about slavery. It reached a highpoint when Missouri asked to be admitted into the Union in 1819, as a slave state. This would upset the balance of an equal amount of slave states and free states. At the time, the U.S. contained 11 free states and 11 slave states. So they decided to make a compromise. The Missouri Compromise admitted Missouri a slave state and Maine as a free state to maintain the balance. Also slavery was to be excluded from the Louisiana Purchase lands north of latitude 36°30’, excluding Missouri. This Compromise had some pros and cons.

The Missouri Compromise was a sequence of controversial agreements that was created in 1820 with the purpose of diffusing the volatile atmosphere which had swept through the United States. The focal point of this situation centered around the territory of Missouri, who had finally appealed to enter the Union as a slave state. However, during this time period of American history, there were exactly eleven free states and eleven slave states in the Union. Realizing that the addition of Missouri would throw the fragile balance of the divided country into chaos, Congress proposed the Missouri Compromise in an effort to maintain the status quo. The terms of the first Compromise stated that Maine was to be admitted as a free state, while Missouri

In the year 1820 on the date of March 6 president James Monroe signed the Missouri Compromise. This act brought the new state of Missouri to be the only slave state in the entire Louisiana purchase area. This date is important because it showed a valuable compromise in the government to keep the newly formed government from having backlash between the free and the slave states. This is important because it is history of our newly independent government and country. It does not really affect this country to anymore as the act of slavery has been deemed unconstitutional for quite a while now.

The 1820s viewed a huge alteration in both the identities of the major American party-political revelries together in a way American citizen voted for their leaders. The Missouri Compromise brings Missouri and Maine into the union and slavery to the American West. Maine was an enclave of Massachusetts until 1820, when because of the growing population and a political agreement regarding slavery, it became the 23rd state on March 15 under the Missouri Compromise. Prior to its joining the Union, Missouri was part of the Missouri Territory. It was admitted as the 24th state of the Union in August 10, 1821.

The Missouri Compromise, one of the most known agreements in American history, was an attempt presented by Henry Clay in calming sectional division between the Northern and Southern states over the issue of slavery. While the Missouri Compromise found a temporary solution in regards to representation resulting in twelve free states and twelve slave states(G), it also, however, ignited the strong feelings, opinions, and justifications of two opposing sides and "heralded" the future unsuccess of the Union. No longer could our forefathers postpone such an imminent issue as was done during the infancy of the United States government. The Missouri Compromise was a success in a sense, not merely

Following the Louisiana Purchase, Congress wanted to create a policy to guide the expansion of slavery into the new western territory. Missouri’s application for statehood as a slave state sparked bitter debate. Pro-slavery legislators from Missouri would give the pro-slavery faction a congressional majority. They compromised by agreeing that Missouri would be a slave state, but Maine would be admitted as a free state. This is one of the many different conflicts that happened between the North and the South. The North wanted to abolish slavery, while the South depended on slavery. This many arguments caused disunity between the two and eventually lead to the Civil

The Missouri Compromise of 1820: The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was created by Henry Clay. This compromise would benefit both the Northern states and the Southern states. This compromise had occurred when the territory of Missouri wanted to become an official state. The only problem with this was that Missouri wanted to be a slave state.

The Missouri Compromise was only important for preserving the Union for that small period of time. This is evident through the fact that the Compromise of 1850, Fugitive Slave Law, and other debates occurred even after the Missouri Compromise. Many Americans agreed that slavery would be the issue that led the United States to a civil war and the Missouri Compromise was one of many events that delayed the war.

Following the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the country was dived between the agricultural, pro-slavery South and the industrial, anti-slavery North. This division along the 39°30’ parallel created an uneasy peace between the North and South for three decades until it was shattered in 1854 by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which would allow settlers to choose if their state would be a free or slave state. Many northern leaders such as Horace Greeley, Salmon Chase, and Charles Sumner opposed the extension of slavery into the newly forming territories, especially across the parallel, and advocated against a national bank, and immigration. Thus, a new party was needed; the Republican party was born.

The purpose of the Missouri Compromise was to try to keep Congress balanced with slave and free states. Two states were added: Missouri was a slave state and Maine was a free state. The Missouri Compromise also stated that the latitude line 36 30 was the line where slavery stopped.

At first, the Compromise seemed to settle the issue; however, the alarming issue arose again when Mexico ceded new territory to the Union. Differences between the views of the North and South led to a deeper divide that eventually led to the Civil War. The Missouri controversy, an extremely heated crisis between the North and South over slavery in the Louisiana territory, reached to new heights almost as great as the time of secession in 1860. This huge debate showed just how slavery divided the nation (Forbes). Many people knew the consequences of banning slavery, so they kept the Missouri Compromise in place.

Other than the East, current (2017) America’s Midwest, Northwestern States, and Southern States belong to the Europeans (French, Spanish), according to Document 4B. What caused the American Government or shall I say some to be fascinated and eager to gain the Louisiana Territory was its’ region being in the same area as the Mississippi River. In Document 4A, it states “It is New Orleans, through which the produce of our territory must pass to market, and from its fertility it will ere [before] long yield more than half of our whole produce and contain more than half our inhabitants…”. The quote, written by President Thomas Jefferson, speaks about New Orleans and how it can benefit and assist with their economy because of its’ land can be used for agriculture and hold more American citizens. On the other hand, the Federalist Party opposed the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. In Document 6, it states “Jefferson’s political opponents in the Federalist Party argued that the Louisiana Purchase was a worthless desert, and that the Constitution did not provide for the acquisition of new land or negotiating treaties without the consent of the Senate.”.

The decision on whether to enter missouri as a slave state like the south wanted or a free state like the north wanted was conflicted, it was further complicated when Maine also applied for statehood. A compromise was worked out that entered missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. Also “Slavery was banned in the rest of the Louisiana territory north of the 36 30’ N parallel. This compromise kept the peace between the North and the

The main points of the Missouri Compromise were Maine was a free state and Missouri would be a slave state. It also allowed white slave owners to go after escaped slaves into free states. And put them back into slavery. Louisiana Territory north and south of the border of Missouri would be considered free of slavery. The compromise was put into place because the northerners didn’t want the south to have more control over the Senate by adding two more slave state senators.

The Civil War was a very important time in history. The Missouri Compromise was one of the causes of the war. It basically settled the dispute of Missouri wanting to be a slave state. The Missouri Compromise was the states way of stopping all the newly gained states from becoming anti-slavery. The fear of having slavery banned across the whole United States scared many people.