How did The Missouri Compromise keep the balance of power?

Answer 1

Before the Missouri Compromise, there were 11 free states and 11 slave states. Missouri then came in as a slave state and the line of demarcation became 36 degrees 30 minutes north. Maine came in as a free state, which kept the balanced of slave and free states.

The Missouri Compromise

Under the arrangement that became law in 1820, known as the Missouri Compromise, Missouri entered the state as a slave state, and Maine entered as a free state. In addition, the territory that remained from the Louisiana Purchase was divided into along the 36 Degrees 30 Minutes north latitude.

With the exception of Missouri, slavery was prohibited in states north of that line.

The South agreed to the compromise in order to secure an additional slave state. But it emerged from the controversy in a state of shock. For the first time on the floor of Congress, slavery was denounced as a moral evil. It would take another 40 years for the American Civil War to occur, and decide whether the slaves should be freed or not.
Maine

Answer 2

The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was successful in keeping the number of free States and slave States in balance. The Speaker of the House at the time was the well respected Henry Clay. Clay was concerned that unless some kind of compromise was reached the Union might be dissolved.

Missouri was being introduced as a new State and it already had slaves. Senator Jesse B. Thomas of Illinois proposed that the area in the US Northeast, part of Massachusetts, become the State of Maine and thus the balance between free and slave States would remain even. The other principle agreed upon was that in the future States should be admitted to the Union in pairs so that one might be free and the other a slave State. This Compromise of 1820 was a success for its point in time.

Answer 3

The Missouri Compromises of 1820 and 1850 were reached in order to maintain the balance between free states and slave states. Although by there very nature they were not permanent, they successfully postponed a huge rift within the US for another generation. By 1819, the twenty-two United States were one half free states and the other half slave states. In the same year, the population of Missouri, which was part of the Louisiana Purchase, exceeded the sixty thousand population requirement for statehood.

As it then stood, the imminent incorporation of the Missouri territory into the US reignited a controversy about slavery that had plagued the colonies from before the American Revolution. At the 1787 Constitutional Convention, the South's slavery had become an indispensable part of its society and its economy. In order for the ratification process to proceed without conflict, the South was successful in lobbying the idea that each state could have its own policy with regards to slavery.

This idea worked well for the time being, however, it did not address the question of what to do about new applications for statehood.

This problem had thus put off the problem for almost another thirty years. The Congress could not now however escape a solution on the Missouri "question".

During the debate that took place in the House in February of 1819, Representative James Tallmadage of New York proposed that as a condition of entry, no more slaves should be introduced into Missouri. Missouri already had over 10,000 slaves.

He also put forth the proposal that once slaves reached the age of 25, they should be freed.

As might have been expected, a bitter debate over his proposal was a bitter one. However, it eventually passed because every member of the House voted along sectional lines. This being so in that the enfranchised population of the North outweighed that of the South.

The structure of the US senate however, allowed for two senators from each state and could maintain the historic balance. This created an impasse and the bill remained undetermined as Congress adjourned.

Upon being reconvened in December of 1819, the debate continued but with much more intensity.

Northern congressmen wanted to stop the spread of slavery westward. It was much more than that however, as the lurking idea was that this was a positive step towards the elimination of this blight on freedom. On the other hand, Southern congressmen believed that if Missouri was admitted, people should be allowed to bring their "property" meaning their slaves with them.

There seemed to be no resolution in sight. until the prestiges Speaker of the House, Henry Clay proposed a deal, a compromise, a way out of a sticky situation.

The compromise was to create a new Northern state out of the womb of Massachusetts, namely the great state of Maine.

In this, the two new states would maintain the precarious balance to be solved some time in the future. ( like the current US 21 trillion dollar debt )

Regardless of the number of representatives in the House, the Senate would remain balanced.

In the Senate, Illinois Senator Jesse B. Thomas supported Clay's idea and introduced the new idea that this "two at a time" deal be continued. The dividing line would be the 30 30 latitude line that ran across North America.

In 1821 the bill was signed by President Monroe and he believed this would end future problems. Missouri and Maine now were the 21st and 22nd new states.

Aged Thomas Jefferson, however, predicted the folly of this but in 1826, Jefferson died at his home in Virginia.

Monroe was almost correct. And for almost another 30 years the 1820 Missouri Compromise was "ok".

The rapid expansion of the US westward, the annexation of Texas, the Mexican War and gold in California all made for another terrible situation. In 1850, the 1820 Compromise was stretched beyond its limits. The new 1850 Missouri Compromise had to incorporate all of the new territorial changes in the US.

The new Missouri Compromise that entailed five separate bills had to be implemented. They were the following as seen below minus all the complicated legal language:

1. California entered as a free state;

2. The Utah and New Mexico Territories organized and popular sovereignty to be used in the future to decide slave or free states;

3. Texas had to drop its territorial claims above the 30th latitude;

4. Slave trade but not slavery abolished in Washington DC; and

5. The Fugitive Slave Act strengthened.

Sadly, the Kansas-Nebraska Act would lead to a small intra-territory Kansas civil war in 1854.

Answer 4

It allowed both the Northern and Southern sectors to expand into the new territories, with the Missouri line as the divide between slave country and free soil.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

Both compromises were intended to keep the number of slave and free states even.

Answer 7

By drawing a line in the sand. Everywhere North of that line, slavery would be illegal.

Answer 8

It balanced the amount of slave states and free states by adding both a slave state (Missouri) and a free state (Maine).

Answer 9

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