Missouri Compromise Research Paper

Words: 1658
Pages: 7

Slavery in the United States at the time was especially controversial, as the Northern states had abolished slavery in their territories and had wanted to abolish slavery completely in the United States, however the Southern states depended on slaves to produce crops and also benefitted their economy. During the year 1817 the territory of Missouri had first applied for statehood to join the Union as a slave state. This was the beginning of a major controversy that would create tension and conflict between the North and South in the United States for several years, as it disturbed the balance between the number of slave states and free states. However, within three years, a solution was created, known as the Missouri Compromise of 1820, that …show more content…
It also drew an imaginary line through the Louisiana territory, that would allow slavery south of the line and exclude slavery north of the line. The Compromise lasted for more than thirty years, but was later repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. Although the Missouri Compromise provided a solution to the question on slavery’s presence in the Western Territories, it ultimately failed to provide a lasting settlement on the issue of slavery itself.
Before Missouri first applied to join the Union, there was an equal amount of slave and free states, with eleven free states and eleven slave states. When Missouri reached the required amount of white settlers on their territory, they applied for statehood in 1817 to join the Union as a slave state. However, Missouri struggled to get approval as the Northern states, who had the advantage in the House of Representatives, did not want another slave state to enter the Union since it would give the slave states an advantage in the Senate. Meaning, any bill regarding slavery would most likely be in favor of the slave states. This caused a major dispute between the Southern and Northern states, so representative James Tallmadge Jr. from New York proposed the Tallmadge