The Missouri Compromise

"Step with care and great tact, and remember that life is a great balancing act"

                          ~ Dr. Seuss

  As the nation expanded after the War of 1812, a very delicate balancing act was taking place.  The number of slave holding states in the South wad equal to the number of free states in the North.  The Northern states had a larger population and therefore had more members in the House of Representatives but in the Senate there was the same number of Senators from the North and the South.  With this balance in place it met that no law could be passed that would ban slavery.  An unsteady truce would remain in Washington until 1820.

    By 1820, there were 11 slave holding states and 11 free states in the Union.  There would be 22 Senators representing the South and 22 Senators representing the North.  The Missouri Territory had required enough residents to be eligible for statehood.  Since there were already over 2,000 slaves living in Missouri, it seemed logical that it would be admitted as a slave holding state.  Senators from the North did not like this idea.  If Missouri was admitted as a slave state that meant that the South would now have the advantage in the Senate and be able to dictate the issue of slavery.

   As the debate wore on in the Senate, one Senator proposed a Compromise.  Senator Henry Clay from Kentucky came up with a solution to solve the issue of Missouri's statehood that would satisfy both the North and the South.  He proposed that Missouri be admitted as a slave state but that Maine be admitted into the Union as well but as a free state.  This would return the balance of power so that neither the North nor the South had control over the Senate.  The second part of the Compromise would be to draw a line at the 36, 30 latitude line (the southern border of Missouri).  Any territory from the Louisiana  Purchase that was north of that line would be designated as free territory. No resident of that land would be permitted to own slaves.  Land from the Louisiana Purchase that was South of that line would be designated as "slave-holding" territory.

Which side do you think got the better part of that deal?

Many Senators from the South were eager to see if the line from the Missouri Compromise would be extended to the Pacific Ocean.  Prior to the Mexican-American War, many Congressmen and Senators were eager to go to war with Mexico to obtain lands west of Texas.  

The Missouri Compromise was far from perfect and did not resolve the issue of slavery, but only prolonging the issue for another time.  Henry's Clay's attempt at preserving the Union would last for 30 years before it was declared un-constitutional.  Many settlers felt as though the Federal Government did not have the right to decide if lands were open to slavery or not.  

The balancing act would continue for a three more decades.  When Arkansas was eligible for statehood in 1836, it could only be admitted into the Union after Congress declared that Michigan would become a state in 1837.  When Congress allowed Florida to become a state in 1845, the law also said that free state Iowa would be allowed to enter the Union. 

It would be when California was ready for statehood that the balancing act would come to an end.