Was the Missouri Compromise success or failure?

Answer 1

The Missouri Compromise was effective for a short while, when westward expansion was not a serious thing. It kept the balance of slave states in the Union which appeased the North and South, who were pitted against each other because of this conflict. However, as westward expansion became a bigger movement, legislation such as the Kansas-Nebraska act ignored the Missouri Compromise line, as did much of the settlement in the West. Instead, it relied on popular sovereignty.

Answer 2

It kept the peace for thirty years, and could have continued for longer, except that California was too big to fit the terms of the Compromise. (It extended too far on either side of the Missouri line.)

Answer 3

Yes, it kept the peace for thirty years, until the annexation of several Mexican provinces caused more debate over which new states would be slave and which would be free.

Answer 4

To maintain the balance between slave and free states-

Answer 5

Yes, it balanced the arguments and counter-arguments, and kept the peace for thirty years, before the new lands acquired from Mexico needed a new compromise.