The Missouri compromise was a very important event that marked the beginning of the long battle against slavery. In the years leading up to the Missouri compromise tensions were rising between the North and the South. The states were all being divided into slave states and free states. Free states were states that were anti-slavery and were made up of mainly Northern states while slave states were states that supported slavery and were all mostly Southern states. Before the Missouri compromise the amounts of slave and free states were kept balanced. When Missouri met all the requirements to become a state and wanted to be admitted as a slave state, it threatened to tip the balance. The Missouri compromise allowed the admission of Missouri as a slave state while at the same time allowing Maine to be admitted as a free state, maintaining the balance. It also prohibited slavery in the states North of the southern boundary of Missouri. This conflict inspired other people and was the first major battle against slavery. It also kept the number of free and slave states even preventing the balance from being tipped in favor of slavery. One of the arguments that I intend to make to prove that the Missouri compromise was the beginning of this battle is that the Missouri Compromise prevented pro slavery states from gaining majority in the senate. A second point that I will make is that the Missouri compromise opened up serious debates and conversations that otherwise may not have
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 Missouri Compromise has impacted America today greatly for many reasons. One of the few reasons include, “It marked the beginning of the … conflict over the extension of slavery that led to the American Civil War.” (Encyclopædia Britannica, Missouri Compromise) Currently territories south of the Ohio River and the Mason Dixon Line were considered pro-slave states. A significant portion of Missouri is north of the Mason Dixon Line, but many citizens of Missouri were still slaveholders.
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was intended to solve the issue of slavery and create peace within the union. However, as seen in the following documents, all the Missouri Compromise did was push the issue down the road. Document A, Andrew Jackson expresses great concern about the possible consequences of the Missouri Compromise. Jackson claims that the controversy on this issue will not only divide the nation but also encourage violence and uprisings. He accuses the Eastern interests of placing their own power and political ascent above the good of the nation as a whole and foreshadowing the growing hostility between different regions.
Congress agreed to admit Missouri as a slave state and marked Maine as a separate state
During the year 1820, the Missouri Compromise was established in the USA. Missouri was a slave state to start with but the North wanted to push it towards a free state. Although the North outnumbered the South in population and in the House of Representatives (105-81), and the ratio between states were 11:11, no new legislation could be made. If the state of Missouri became a free state, the ratio between free states and slave states would be 12:10 which would mean that the North could pass any legislation without fear of it being blocked. Vice versa with the South because it would give the South more political power. There was much controversy surrounding this issue and someone had to try and fix it. The man who first try and fix the problem was James Tallmadge who wanted to get rid of slavery in Missouri which outraged the South into blocking it. A man named Henry Clay proposed that Missouri would be a slave-holding state, Maine would now be a free state (23 state added), and there would be no slavery in the rest of the Louisiana Territory north of latitude 36°30'
The Missouri compromise was made to make both slave states and free states happy. Before this compromise, there was constant debate on whether to make new states slave state or not. Slave states were worried that there might be more free states then slave states, destroying the balance of congress. The Missouri compromise created a “invisible line of compromise.”
The Missouri Compromise was an effective temporally political compromise in reducing sectional tensions prior to the Civil War because it preserved a balance between the Northern and Southern states. In 1819, United States concluded with an equal number eleven slave and free states. However, settlers petitioned for Missouri as a slave state for its large population and became the first state to apply that was completely from the Louisiana purchase. Many opposed of Missouri as a free state due to the imbalance of states. This was resolved by admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine
Missouri Compromise was a determined attempt made by Congress to remove the sectional and political competition that was caused by the request of Missouri in the late 1819 for admission as a state in which slavery would be legal. The United States controlled twenty-two states before Missouri was a state, the twenty-two states were evenly divided between slave and free. The state Missouri as a slave state would upset the balance. It would also set a model for congressional acceptance in the growth of slavery. In 1819, when Missouri was being arranged as America’s region, representative James Tallmadge of New York had presented an amendment that would end slavery there, Tallmadge’s effort was defeated. The Missouri state was still under debate
The Missouri Compromise was an attempt to settle the conflict of slavery between North and South. In this compromise Missouri entered the union as a slave state while, Maine entered as a free state. This was an attempt to keep the free and slave states balanced. This compromise didn’t work in the long run because an unbalanced union was inevitable. Both views would continue to battle for the upper hand. The North and South both felt equally that their views were superior and right (275, 412)
The 1820 Missouri Compromise played a large role in the campaign against slavery. In 1819 Missouri became a statehood and congress considered framing a state constitution, with this a representative attempted to add a anti-slavery legislation with it. This is what started the process of the campaign against slavery. Henry Clay made a large contribution toward this compromise in 1820, with his new ideas on how to settle the conflict between the North and the South, which lasted until 1954.All the compromise’s made from 1820's to the Kansas Nebraska compromise
Slavery is the act of owning people and giving them nothing but restricted freedom and exhausting laborious jobs. Most of the slave states were in the South, including Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, and Delaware. The free states were in the North including California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin. It was determined if a state would own slaves or not through the Missouri Compromise, most of the slave states justified their need for slaves because or the amount of work that had to be done in
The Missouri Compromise and events leading up to the Civil War were based mainly on slavery and the two conflicting viewpoints of the American people. The compromises involving slavery were only short-term solutions for a very long-term problem. The Civil War changed the foundation of America forever. The war was inevitable, and thus, the contrasting views between the North and the South were bound to break out into warfare at some point.
The Missouri Compromise was a temporary solution to the issue of slavery and territorial rights such as the movement West. Two areas of land wanted to become states in 1820, known as Maine and Missouri. Maine wanted to enter as a free state with no slavery as everyone in that area was against it and wanted it abolished. Missouri wanted to enter as a slave state and was all for slavery and wanted it to be spread all throughout the country. The compromise everyone came into conclusion with, was that there would be no slavery allowed north of 36° 30’ latitude. This angered the Southerners because their intention was to promote slavery not have it abolished. They realized that this compromise threatened the balance between free and slave states; Maine and Missouri. In order to expand slavery, the South felt that the United States would need territory from Mexico. The only area of land left was in Arkansas and that line became known as the Missouri Compromise line. The impact that the Missouri Compromise had on the United States was tremendous and had many effects on issues such as national politics, the institution of slavery, and the overall togetherness of the nation as a whole.
In 1819, there were eleven free states and eleven slave states. Adding a new state would have tipped the balance in the senate in favor of the South. Three main parts of the Missouri Compromise was that Missouri became a slave state, Maine became a free state, and it banned slavery in new territories or states north of 36'30 latitude line. The South was happy that Missouri became a slave state, but Maine became a free state. The North was happy that Maine became a free state, but Missouri became a slave state.