The Missouri Compromise
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Missouri Compromise (1820)—Missouri entered the Union as a slave state and Maine entered as a free state. This compromise also stated that north of the 36°30’ line, all states that entered the Union would be free states.
In 1820, the population of Missouri had reached the necessary 60,000 citizens required to be able to apply to Congress for statehood. However, since it asked to be admitted as a “slave state” heated opposition arose especially from many Northern Congressmen, who had no desire to see future Western states adopted in and further spread the “peculiar institution” of slavery. In the North, slavery had been dying for some time and most hoped it would simply fade away from existence. But with the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney and the increased demand for slaves across the South, many Southerners were determined to keep their slaves and even invest in more. Another important concern over Missouri’s admission was how to keep the balance of power in the US Senate. Southerners were determined to keep as many slave states as free states in order to block any future attempts to restrict slavery or even abolish it altogether. For this reason, Southern politicians demanded Missouri enter with slavery, but Northern congressmen were strongly opposed to this. Henry Clay was a Kentuckian who had great political skills, and as congressional leader, stepped in to help resolve the dispute. Knowing for some time that Maine (which up to that time had been a part of Massachusetts) wanted to become its own state, gave an opportunity to keep the balance in the Senate by admitting it as a free state along with Missouri (slave state) simultaneously. But what about the future? Undoubtedly, more western lands would quickly grow in population and also apply for statehood. Henry Clay, understanding this, then proposed that the 36-30 latitude, which stretched across the nation, would become the boundary that separated free and slave states. To the North of that line only free states would be allowed and below that land slave states. Most congressmen were satisfied with these terms of the Missouri Compromise, but some argued that the issue over slavery in America needed to be resolved one way or the other. An aging Thomas Jefferson warned that the Missouri Compromise was a “fire-bell sounding in the night”, meaning that danger was looming and perhaps America would suffer greatly down the road for compromising on an issue that needed to be dealt with immediately! Another consequence of the Missouri Compromise was that Southern politicians afterwards would keep a watchful eye on Northern leaders who might try to restrict or abolish slavery one day. Momentum would begin building as North and South would squabble over the issue of slavery spreading west, which will ultimately lead to the Civil War. |