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Missouri Compromise Of 1850 Essay

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Throughout the United States history, particularly during the mid 1770s to the 1960s, tension erupted in regards to slavery between the Northern and Southern states. Both states were evolving into their own distinct society. The Northern states were rapidly expanding in successful industrial developments, foreign trade, and commerce banking. At the same time, the Southern states were swiftly expanding in agriculture, were growing dependent on the production of cotton and enslaved African Americans. Additionally, numerous western territories were being acquired and as a result the Southern states wanted to expand slavery into the western territories but the Northern states opposed the expansion of slavery creating conflict. Although, there were …show more content…

The Missouri Compromise of 1820 sparked debate in regards to the expansion of slavery into the western territories. Missouri requested statehood but wanted to come in as a slave state. Having Missouri come in, as a slave state would disrupt the equal balance between free and slave states. In an effort to regulate slavery in the western states, Jesse Thomas suggested that an amendment to be implemented into the Missouri Compromise that would ban slavery north of latitude 36°30’ in the Louisiana Purchase. This would include the Southern border of Missouri and the area west of Mississippi. Meanwhile, Maine had also applied for statehood. The Senate proposed to add Missouri as slave state and add Maine as a free state to keep the power in congress balanced out. Furthermore, issues arose because Missouri’s proposed state constitution stated that free blacks or mixed races were not …show more content…

After successfully gaining their independence Texas legalized slavery, banned free blacks and applied for statehood. The attempt of annexing Texas into the United States consequently erupted in sectional disputes between the North and South over enslavement. President John Tyler’s attempt in annexing Texas as a slave state eventually succeeded in 1845. Soon after James K. Pol gained precedency, the furious Mexican government cut off ties with the U.S. due to the annexation of Texas. A few days after cutting ties off with the U.S. Mexican troops killed eleven, eventually leading to the start of the Mexican-American War. Although not everyone agreed in declaring war, President Polk reassured Congress that he was not fighting the war to expand slavery but instead used the concept of manifest destiny to expand towards the west in hopes of instilling unity upon the nation. After a series of numerous battles that took place between March 1846 and April 1848 the end of the war lead to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. This treaty recognized that most if not all parts of present-day California, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and the border of Texas was to be under the authority of the United States. The acquisition of such a large amount of land added to the unresolved issue of slavery. The South was all for adding another slave state to U.S. as this was going to work in their

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1837 Words | 8 Pages

The Missouri Compromise started with the subject of slavery and how westerners could not agree whether to permit it or to exclude it. Those settling to the south wanted slavery for economic reasons such as labor while those settling to the north had no use for slavery at all. Politicians in Congress had attempted to preserve a sectional balance between the North and the South. There had been a balance of 11 slave and 11 free states but once Missouri bided for statehood the North raised alarm because slavery was well established there. The issue here was that if Missouri came in as a slave state, it would tip the political balance in the South’s favor.

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605 Words | 3 Pages

During this time they were several things that were happening. The Congress earlier passed it's the compromise that there would be a line which was named the 36° 30’ line, which slavery was not allowed to cross but Missouri wanted to enter the Union as a slave state. Is there anywhere to route to enter the slave state north. This was unfair to the northerners because the addition of Missouri as a slave state would unbalance the seats in Congress, so Maine wanted to enter the country as a free state, but they were not able to get enough votes until March 4 and it was entered as the second half of the Missouri compromise as part of the Missouri Compromise but Maine did not want to be included in the compromise. A man who lived in Maine wrote a poem about how main should not participate in the compromise because it was unhealthy and that they should just be allowed to become a free state, but even with their attempts main was still entered as the second half of the Missouri

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102 Words | 1 Pages

In the era before the Civil War America was expanding westward. The Louisiana Purchase and other lands gained help to give America new land to expand on, but this leaded to issues with the division of free and slave states. As Missouri became a state they wanted to become a slave state, which caused trouble. In order to keep equilibrium between the states, Congress came up with the Missouri Compromise of 1820.The Missouri Compromise made Missouri a slave state and Maine a free state. The Treaty also made a line within the Louisiana Territory to keep slavery from moving up the

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575 Words | 3 Pages

The Southern states dependent upon slave labor, and 200 years of living with the institution had made it an integral part of Southern life and culture (Ch. 10 PowerPoint). In 1819, Maine, which had been part of Massachusetts, put in its application for statehood. Then a compromise developed (Text p. 316). Erin Rall History 113 Professor Townsend 11/14/15

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144 Words | 1 Pages

The Missouri Compromise was necessary because the south wanted slavery to continue while the nation was growing. Most states in the North had outlawed slavery. However, the South did not want slavery to end because it was the foundation of the economy and plantations. So the Missouri Compromise was made to keep the balance of slave states and free states. Missouri joined the Union as a slave state and Maine joined as a free state.

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1985 Words | 8 Pages

To please the South, slavery would be prohibited forever from Louisiana Purchase territories n orth of 36° 30'. Southern extremists opposed any limit on the extension of slavery, but settled for now. Missouri and Maine were to enter statehood simultaneously to preserve sectional equality in the Senate. For almost a generation this Compromise seemed to settle the conflict between the North and South. But in 1848 the Union acquired a huge piece of territory from Mexico.

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509 Words | 3 Pages

The Missouri Compromise was an attempt by the United States government to diffuse the issue of slavery. The issue of slavery had arisen in the recent years due to the expansion of the country. The question of slavery in every new territory rocked the nation. The Missouri Compromise was one of the government’s last attempts to fix it diplomatically.

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869 Words | 4 Pages

In the era before the civil war, specifically in the era post-purchase of the Louisiana territories, sectionalism between the Northern and Southern territories spread like wildfire. The Northern states, mainly focusing on commercial and industrial economy, supported the idea of the freedom of slaves. On the other hand, the South, a mainly agricultural and rural society, supported the idea of slaves and slave labor to work in the plantations of white men. These differences would later spark many conflicts (including the Civil War), in which the North was fighting for the freedom of slaves and the South was fighting for the keeping of slaves, especially in new additional territories.

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1104 Words | 5 Pages

The admission of Missouri to the Union was met with discontent because many believed it would disrupt the tranquility of having an even number of slave states and free states. The solution was raised to admit the newest northern state of Maine into the union as a free state, maintaining the balance. After this decision was made, they banned slavery in the new territories above the latitude of 36°30’. This solution was referred to as the Missouri Compromise. This may have been seen a victory because of its limitation on the spread of slavery, but the compromise also led to slavery also becoming more deep-seated in the southern way of

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969 Words | 4 Pages

What impact did the Missouri Compromise have on future territories and their entrance to the union? To understand the Missouri Compromise fully, understanding the events that took place prior to 1820 is essential. The War of 1812 ended with “the Federalist Party all but destroyed.” After the fall of the federalist party, we entered a time period called the Era of Good Feelings. It received this name “due to the one-party dominance” . The party dominating the political elections and the U.S Congress was the Democratic-Republicans also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republicans.

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1121 Words | 5 Pages

Slavery was one of the biggest problems between 1820 and 1860. Sometimes two states had to be added to the Union at the same time, to make things fair. The North and the South fought almost constantly over the issue of slavery, sometimes things were able to be worked out about it, but as the years passed, the problems with slavery and territory started to become too big to ignore or

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1291 Words | 6 Pages

Missouri’s seeking to become a state in 1819 was complicated by the fact that it currently had slavery. Maine also was seeking admittance to be a (free) state so the two were paired together as free and slave, balancing out the Congress. In order to prevent further conflicts over whether states would be free or slave, Senator Jesse Thomas proposed the 36°30’ parallel to ban the introduction of slave states above Missouri, known as the Missouri Compromise. The cause of the Missouri Compromise was the division of Congress as members representing free states and slave states. If the balance was overthrown, it was feared that slavery could be abolished nationally or legalized nationally by a majority of representatives of either side.

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1033 Words | 5 Pages

The Missouri Compromise was an effort by Congress to defuse the sectional and political rivalries triggered by the request of Missouri late in 1819 for admission as a state in which slavery would be permitted. At the time, the United States contained twenty-two states, evenly divided between slave and free. Admission of Missouri as a slave state would upset that balance; it would also set a precedent for congressional acquiescence in the expansion of slavery. In 1854, the Missouri Compromise was repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

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1105 Words | 5 Pages

In the letter to Lafayette, Thomas Jefferson describes his opinion on the question of whether to allow slavery in Missouri. Jefferson says, “...It is not a moral question, but one merely of power…,” (Document A). In other words, Thomas Jefferson understands that people only care about which section, free or slave states, has more power in government. In the map titled, “The Missouri Compromise, 1820,” it shows which states are slave states and which states are free states. According to the map, Maine entered the Union as a free state and Missouri entered the Union as a slave state, (Document B).

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1563 Words | 7 Pages

The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was an attempt by Congress to ease some of the political rivalries between the North and the South (history.com 2009). The compromise stated the fact that all states up north would not have slavery and all states south would allow and continue the act of slavery (history.com 2009). It went both ways since it split the country up evenly between slave and free. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was handwritten by Henry Clay in 1820 (ancestralfindings.com 1995). On March 6th of 1820, President James Monroe signed the Missouri Compromise and made it the new law of the land (loc.gov 2017).

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