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Reasons For The Downfall Of The Missouri Compromise Of 1850

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Through the Louisiana Purchase, Missouri Compromise, Manifest Destiny, Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the United States developed a unique policy regarding new territories that would greatly affect history and slavery. Although expanding territory would be beneficial to a country if done correctly, the United States suffered fracturing division and eventual civil war indirectly as a result. With lingering questions over the definitions of slave and free states, the country would always face questions regarding slavery whenever a new state wished to enter the Union. Ultimately, the bond of the country would crumble and require reconstruction for many years to come. With endless controversy, unpopular decisions, and poor agreements, …show more content…

Under this agreement, Missouri would enter the Union as a slave state while Maine entered as a free state. However, a seemingly permanent boundary would be drawn between free and slave states to deny the other side from disrupting the delicate balance. Unfortunately for free states, pro-slavery supporters concentrated their supplies and slaves to southern states; by shifting the demographics of slavery, they strengthened in power and resources compared to the North. Although the Missouri Compromise kept stability for several decades, its eventual downfall was …show more content…

Under this belief, God had chosen America to expand completely to the Pacific Ocean. Other than making physical territorial deals to expand, the belief also revealed contradicting points of view amongst American citizens. While northerners supported expansion to increase free territory, southerners wanted to build more societies based on slave ownership. After the Mexican American War, the territory of California wished to enter the Union as a free state. However, this upset many southerners who saw this expansion as disrupting the balance of free and slave states. As further compromises were needed to stabilize fragile relations, the expansion of territories revealed the gaping differences in American beliefs. To settle the complaints from southerners, Congress adopted the Compromise of 1850 to deal with both slavery and the expanding territories. Under this deal, California entered the United States as a free state and Washington D.C. abolished its slave trade. Also, other territories to the west could independently decide whether to ban or allow slavery. However, the law also caused controversy by allowing slave owners to capture fugitive slaves in the North. While neither side felt completely satisfied after the deal, the compromise appeared to prevent differences between the two sides from spiraling out of

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