The Compromise of 1850 was an attempt by the U.S Congress to settle divisive issues between the North and South, including slavery expansion, apprehension in the North of fugitive slaves, and slavery in the District of Columbia. The Compromise of 1850 failed because Senator John C. Calhoun from the South and Senator William Seward from the North could not agree on what Henry Clay was putting down. Part of the compromise was to make California a slavery free state which benefits the North, and enforcing a stricter fugitive slave law which benefits the South. Both the North and South opposed what the other was benefiting from. What sparked the failure of the Compromise was the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. This law allowed southerners to reclaim
The Missouri Compromise greatly limited the growth and development of slavery in the United States. It allowed Missouri to become a state, and to allow slaves, and Maine, as a free state. The compromise also prohibited the practice of slavery in the northern portion of the Louisiana Territory. By this time, the importation of slaves from Africa had been outlawed, and they could only be purchased within the country. This meant also meant, that states that entered would be free states. As westward expansion continued, the number of free states would be twice that of the already existing, and only, slave states. The Missouri compromise showed the different opinions that the regions, mainly the north and south, had about slavery. In the north they
Abdelrahman Abdelhamid History 1301 Prof. O'Gilvie The Missouri Compromise In the years leading up to the Missouri Compromise of 1820, tensions began to rise between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions within the U.S. Congress and across the country. They reached a boiling point after Missouri’s 1819 request for admission to the Union as a slave state, which threatened to upset the delicate balance between slave states and free states. At this moment in time, Congress was in the middle of deliberating Missouri statehood, by this time a normal expectation whenever a boundary territory accomplished the qualifying number of white settlers.
They were above all of the other slave states, but they wanted to be able to still own slaves. When they were allowed to become a slave state, this put the North at a disadvantage of 15-16 representatives in elections. The Missouri Compromise allowed states that were below the 36-30 line to become slave states when they were admitted to become a state. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 repealed the 36-30 dividing line for slavery in the Louisiana Purchase area. Tensions rose between the North and South even more than they had in the Nullification
Throughout the years of 1807-1910, there was a lot of tension and confusion within the United States. The major factor that prompted the U.S. expansion was they wanted to expand and make their borders known. An agreement called the Missouri Compromise was passed by Congress in 1820.This compromise admitted the states in pairs, one slaveholding and one free. Then in 1857 the Supreme Court ruled that Congress had no right to prohibit slavery in the territories.
A heated battle started between the representatives from the Northern and Southern states following the Missouri Compromise.
Due to the Missouri Compromise, new states in the North were automatically free states. The Northerns started to hate slavery and wanted to push other states to become free states. The South could not let this happen because their economy depending on slavery. Since the slave masters did not have to pay their workers, everything they sold was 100% profit to the South. If slavery was abolished, they’d have to find other ways to farm their plantations and would undoubtedly make less money.
They used their power in the Senate to prevent statehood from Maine which was trying to disjoint from Massachusetts. After years of debate, Henry Clay composed political agreements called the Missouri Compromise set to admit Maine (separating from Massachusetts) as a Free State in 1820 and Missouri as a Slave State in 1821. Also in the agreement accepted that slavery would be banned in future admissions to the Union above the Missouri Compromise line (N of latitude 36 30’) except Missouri. This compromise maintained a balance in the Senate between the North and South.
The cause of most political dispute around 1820-1860 was mostly about slavery. There has been division between the North and the South, though compromise had usually serve in calming the disagreement. However, nearing 1860, political compromise appeared useless. Comprises simply postponed addressing the issue, and led to even more greater issues than needed,compromise wasn’t working politically, socially,and economically for our nation.
Although in the Missouri Compromise, Missouri became a slave state and Maine became a free state, it was an example of disunity. All new states north of the Mason-Dixon Line would be free and new states southward would be slave states. As a result, there was also an unbalanced sectional population between the North and South. (Doc. E & F).
However, the Missouri Compromise caused some problems. The compromise equaled the concerns and interests in the North and South, but the South was upset about how Congress gave itself the power to create and pass laws dealing with slavery. Much of the North was upset because Congress let slavery spread into another state. There were people who didn’t want to compromise, and others who did, such as Henry Clay.
The Missouri compromise was an agreement between the north and south. It allowed Missouri to be the 24th state. Maine was also established, therefore Missouri was a free state. The Mason Dixon line was established, this created a line between the slave and free states. This rule was broken, and even more conflict was contributed to the start of the civil war.
In the era before the Civil War America was expanding westward. The Louisiana Purchase and other lands gained help to give America new land to expand on, but this leaded to issues with the division of free and slave states. As Missouri became a state they wanted to become a slave state, which caused trouble. In order to keep equilibrium between the states, Congress came up with the Missouri Compromise of 1820.The Missouri Compromise made Missouri a slave state and Maine a free state. The Treaty also made a line within the Louisiana Territory to keep slavery from moving up the
Congress and across the country. They reached a boiling point after Missouri’s 1819 request for admission to the Union as a slave state or a free state, which threatened to upset the balance between slave states and free states. To keep the peace, Congress orchestrated a two-part compromise, granting Missouri’s request but also admitting Maine as a free state. It also passed an amendment that drew an imaginary line across the former Louisiana Territory, establishing a boundary between free and slave regions that remained the law of the land until it was negated by the Kansas. The north’s reaction towards the MIssouri Compromise was that they condemned it for acquiescing in the expansion of
These were a big deal involving slavery because they either strengthened slavery or made it seem like it was going to end all together. To the South, the thought of slavery ending was a complete disaster. In Document 9: Excerpt from the Dred Scott Decision, shows how Scott saw the Missouri Compromise. He says, “(I)t is the opinion of this court that the Act of Congress (the Missouri Compromise) which prohibited a citizen from holding and owning property of this kind (slaves) in the territory of the United States north of the line therein mentioned,...” This quote from his speech says he thinks that the Missouri Compromise was a good thing because it prohibited people who own slaves to cross the North and South border with their “property” or slaves.