The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was put in effect to relive the tension building between pro-slavery and antislavery groups. The United States was evenly divided into eleven “slave states” and eleven “free states”. The compromise stated that slavery was prohibited in the Louisiana Territory north of 36° 30’ except for the state of Missouri, which was admitted as a slave state. Maine was also admitted as a free state in this compromise. It passed the Senate on March 2, 1820 and the House on February 26, 1821. This deal intensified the regional problems between the North and the South. Northerners realized that Southerners did not intend for slavery to end, but to expand its presence. In the South, rumors spread that Northerners were using slavery as a camouflage behind which they could bring back the Federalist Party and strengthen the central government at the expense of states’ rights.
|