The first compromise was called the Missouri Compromise, an agreement between the northern and southern states about allowing Missouri to enter the Union. The issue with this compromise focused on disrupting the balance of power between the slave and free states in Congress. Allowing Missouri to enter as a slave state and Maine to enter as a free state enabled the balance of power to remain the same for almost 30 years as states were entered into the Union in free and slave pairings. This pattern changed in 1850 when California, due to the Gold Rush, had a population large enough to apply for statehood. With no slave state available to balance the entry of a free one, major conflict ensued between the North and South. The South, which had a smaller population than the North, was fearful that losing the balance of power in the Senate would one day give the North the opportunity to end slavery. Talk of secession was prevalent in the South and the Civil War almost started a decade earlier than it did. However, Senators Henry Clay and Stephen A. Douglas wrote the Compromise of 1850, a bill that both groups grudgingly agreed to approve.
Missouri Compromise by Shawn Davies on Scribd
Questions
Which state caused the issue of slavery brought up?
What scarred anti-slavery states from letting Missouri come in as a slave state?
What was done to balance out power?
What line was drawn and what does it stand for?
What scarred anti-slavery states from letting Missouri come in as a slave state?
What was done to balance out power?
What line was drawn and what does it stand for?