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.
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."
Missouri Compromise History and Information
Missouri Compromise Historical Figures
Missouri Compromise Books and Research
JSTOR: "The Repeal of the Missouri Compromise" (1909)
Google Book Search: Missouri Compromise Books
Google Scholar: Missouri Compromise Articles
Amazon.com: Missouri Compromise Books
Barnes & Noble: Missouri Compromise Books
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References
Fast Facts
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Fact:
Signed by James Monroe on March 6, 1820
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Fact:
Cause of great debate and controversy
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Fact:
Slaves captured above the line could be returned to owners
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Fact:
Repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska act in 1854
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Fact:
Missouri and Maine were admitted at the same time to keep the number of slave and non-slave states equal
