Missouri+Compromise


 * Throughout the early 1800’s tension between the North and South was building and came to a boiling point right before 1820.
 * The Missouri Compromise
 * Missouri applied to become a state in 1819
 * Slavery had already been established there. Rep James Tallmadge Jr. of NY proposed an amendment to their statehood bill which would not allow the further introduction of slaves into Missouri, therefore providing a gradual emancipation of those already there.
 * This ignited a huge controversy from 1819-1820
 * By chance states had always entered the Union in pairs, one from the south and one from the north.
 * In 1819 there were 11 states with slaves and 11 without. Adding one as a 'free state' would upset the balance of power
 * Maine also wanted in and it would be a free state
 * So they put both entries in one bill
 * The Missouri Compromise
 * Senator Jesse B. Thomas of Illinois
 * Missouri would come into the Union as a slave state, Maine as a free state
 * Slavery would be prohibited in the Louisiana Purchase territory above the Southern Border of Missouri
 * This proposal was adopted as the Thomas Amendment
 * Missouri Compromise 1820**
 * **1787 Ordinance "Northwest Ordinance"**
 * created a single Northwest Territory out of the lands north of the Ohio
 * Needed a population of 60,000 as a minimum for statehood, allowed freedom of religion, trial by jury, and prohibited slavery throughout the territory
 * **The Issue**
 * Missouri and Maine want to join the union through the plan adopted in the 1787 Ordinance
 * Slavery is not allowed north of the southern border of Missouri
 * Missouri and Maine both don't want slavery which would uneven the balance of slave states and free state
 * **Compromise**
 * Missouri admitted as a slave state
 * Maine admitted as a free state
 * Slavery permitted below 36.30 line, prohibited above it
 * It is important to note that Missouri is above this line. They are the exception
 * South does not like this because this is putting a fence around the areas where slavery can be, which could (and eventually does) lead to the end of slavery