On March 3, 1820, the decisive votes in the House admitted Maine as a free state, Missouri as a slave state, and made free soil all western territories north of Missouri’s southern border.

1820

To admit Missouri as a slave state would tip the balance in the Senate, which is made up of two senators per state, in favor of the slave states. Maine was admitted in 1820, and Missouri in 1821, but no further states were added until 1836, when Arkansas was admitted.

Missouri wanted to be a free state, so the South did not want to admit it to the union. Missouri would upset the balance between the equal number of slave states and free states. Missouri would be too much of a drain on the national economy, so both the North and South opposed statehood.

Southerners who opposed the Missouri Compromise did so because it set a precedent for Congress to make laws concerning slavery, while Northerners disliked the law because it meant slavery was expanded into new territory.

Finally, a compromise was reached. On March 3, 1820, Congress passed a bill granting Missouri statehood as a slave state under the condition that slavery was to be forever prohibited in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase north of the 36th parallel, which runs approximately along the southern border of Missouri.

This agreement allowed Missouri to enter the United States as a slave state and Maine to enter as a free state. The Congress thus maintained the balance between slave and free states. To avoid additional conflicts in the future, the Congress also created the Missouri Compromise line.

In an effort to preserve the balance of power in Congress between slave and free states, the Missouri Compromise was passed in 1820 admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. Prohibits further introduction of slaves into Missouri.