Missouri Compromise

Missouri Compromise

The Missouri Compromise was an agreement between pro-slave and anti-slave Congressional representatives that admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state into the United States. The law prohibited slavery above north latitude 36° 30' in the former territory of Louisiana except in the newly created state of Missouri.

Fast Facts

Signed by James Monroe on March 6, 1820
Cause of great debate and controversy
Slaves captured above the line could be returned to owners
Repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska act in 1854
Missouri and Maine were admitted at the same time to keep the number of slave and non-slave states equal

Thomas Jefferson's Opposition

Thomas Jefferson was against the Missouri Compromise and believed that the division it created would cause the downfall of the Union, as he descibed in a letter to John Holmes:

"But this momentous question, like a fire bell in the night, awakened and filled me with terror. I considered it at once as the knell of the Union. it is hushed indeed for the moment. but this is a reprieve only, not a final sentence. a geographical line, coinciding with a marked principle, moral and political, once conceived and held up to the angry passions of men, will never be obliterated; and every new irritation will mark it deeper and deeper."

Categories

History | U.S. History

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Mahalo Top 7

Wikipedia: Missouri Compromise
Library of Congress: Missouri Compromise
PBS: Africans in America: Missouri Compromise
Miller Center of Public Affairs: Monroe Signs Missouri Compromise
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History: Rufus King and the Missouri Controversy
100 Milestone Documents: Missouri Compromise of 1820
Teaching American History: Missouri Compromise Interactive Map

Missouri Compromise History and Information

Missouri Compromise Background

Portland State University American History Project Grant: Free Soil & Slavery Expansion
Historical Documents: Missouri Compromise 1820
Library of Congress: James Monroe: The Missouri Compromise

Missouri Compromise Causes

Digital History: The Growth of Political Factionalism and Sectionalism
The Slave Heritage Resource Center: Missouri Compromise
Georgia's Blue and Gray Trail: Missouri Compromise of 1820

Missouri Compromise Repeal

Wikipedia: Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Life of Abraham Lincoln: The Awakening of the Lion
Teaching American History: Speech on the Repeal of the Missouri Compromise
Northern Illinois University: The Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Rise of the Republican party, 1854-1856
Furman University Department of History: Nebraska

Missouri Compromise Historical Figures

Henry Clay

Mahalo's Guide to Henry Clay
Wikipedia: Henry Clay
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress: Henry Clay
All Empires: Henry Clay

James Monroe

Mahalo's Guide to James Monroe
The Whitehouse: James Monroe
Wikipedia: James Monroe
University of Virginia: James Monroe

Stephen A. Douglas

Wikipedia: Stephen A. Douglas
Stephen A. Douglas Association: Biography
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress: Stephen A. Douglas

Abraham Lincoln

Mahalo's Guide to Abraham Lincoln
The Whitehouse: Abraham Lincoln
Wikipedia: Abraham Lincoln
American Presidents: Abraham Lincoln

Dred Scott

Missouri Secretary of State: Dred Scott
Wikipedia: Dred Scott
PBS: Dred Scott's Fight for Freedom

Missouri Compromise Timeline

1818: January 8, Missouri petitions for statehood.
1819: February 13, Bill allowing Missouri to make a state constitution for admittance to Union comes to the House floor.
1819: Febuary 14, James Tallmadge presents amendment to Missouri statehood to stop further introduction of slaves and gradual emancipation of slaves already there.
1819: February 17, After several days of heated debate the House passes Missouri statehood including Tallmadge's amendments. Sent to senate but never voted on.
1820: March 1, Missouri Compromise moves out of conference committee, to the House and Senate for debate
1820: March 3, Maine admitted as a free state. Missouri admitted as a slave state.

Missouri Compromise Commentary and Criticism

NPR: Missouri Compromise: A Win-Win for Clay
United States Senate: Missouri Compromise Debate, 1820
National Humanities Institute: Unrestraint Begets Calamity: The American Whig Review, 1845-1852
University of Virginia:The Road to 1860 A House Divided

Missouri Compromise Blogs and Message Boards

Baltimore Gurl: The History of Slavery Part 9: Missouri Compromise
Writing in Law: The Play of Prejustice
Pater's Place: Constitution in Exile
Family History Circle: The Year Was 1819

Missouri Compromise Books and Research

JSTOR: "The Repeal of the Missouri Compromise" (1909)
Questia: Missouri Compromise Books and Articles
Google Book Search: Missouri Compromise Books
Google Scholar: Missouri Compromise Articles
Amazon.com: Missouri Compromise Books
Barnes & Noble: Missouri Compromise Books

Related Pages on Mahalo

U.S. Civil War | Abraham Lincoln | American Civil War Reenactment | The Battle of Gettysburg | Constitution of the United States of America | James Monroe | Henry Clay | Monroe Doctrine | Battle of Fort Sumter | First Battle of Bull Run | Second Battle of Bull Run | Missouri | Maine

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