The Missouri Compromise. Since the bulk of the settlers in the territory of Missouri were southerners, it was implied that if Missouri were to be welcomed to the Union as a state it would have to be a slave state.
BSGE Zakir Hussain
11-2 1/27/12
Missouri Compromise
In 1819, The United States of America was made up of 22 states. At the time there was an even amount of free states and slave states. Due to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, there were boundless acres of territory that had yet to be settled in the United States. Later that year, the territory of Missouri requested for statehood (Jones 361). This request set up controversy and conflict between the North and South states. Since the bulk of the settlers in the territory of Missouri were southerners, it was implied that if Missouri were to be welcomed to the Union as a state it would have to be a slave state. Nonetheless, if Missouri were added it would strictly disturb the political status quo. Amid all this tension, “Missouri’s admission was stalled” (Jordan 247). During this debacle, the territory, which we now call Maine, applied for statehood. Henry Clay, a politician at the time, knew that with Maine applying for statehood, this stalemate between slave states and free states could end. Soon after, the Missouri compromise of 1820 was the agreement that politicians made to evenly balance slave states and free states. Additionally, it was established that slavery would not be permissible to prolong in the territories north of the 36° 30’ latitude line (Jordan 247).