Missouri Compromise (1820)

Origins and Enactment of the Compromise

At the time Missouri petitioned to enter into the Union, the country had grown to 22 states. [Page 1475]There were 11 free states and 11 slave states, which meant that each position on slavery had equal representation in the U.S. Senate, which gave each faction power to prevent legislation that was not in the best interest of its states. At the same time, the House of Representatives was controlled by the free states because they had larger populations.

On January 13, 1820, a heated debate began in Congress that highlighted impassioned arguments for and against slavery. Not only was black slavery the foundation of the south's economy, but it was also integral to 200 years of southern life and culture. For many in the north who were against slavery, the issue was simple—refuse to allow any more states that supported the abhorrent practice of slavery. In the south, many also thought the issue was simple—Missouri must be allowed to be a slave state not only to maintain its settlers’ rights to own slaves but also to resist any further control imposed on them from the north.

Important questions were raised in the course of this debate: What control did a state have in deciding for itself its own rule of law, even if that law conflicted with laws in other states? If Congress, not the states, controlled the rule of law, would new states have less autonomy than earlier states? Congressman John Taylor of New York articulated this debate in the following:

Those whom we shall authorize to set in motion the machine of free government beyond the Mississippi will, in many respects, decide the destiny of millions … our votes this day will determine whether the high destiny of this region, and of these generations, shall be fulfilled, or whether we shall defeat them by permitting slavery, with all its baleful consequences, to inherit the land.

The debate would continue in public discourse until February 17, 1820, when Illinois Senator Jesse B. Thomas offered the Missouri Compromise. In this agreement, Missouri would be allowed to enter the Union as a slave state, but slavery was prohibited from the remaining Louisiana Purchase lands located north of 36 degrees, 30 minutes north latitude.

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