Slavery and Missouri Compromise

The vast land acquired by the U.S. as a result of the Louisiana Purchase and the Mexican War made the issue of slavery progressively come to a head in the mid-1800’s. As new states were formed---- would these states be slave states or free states? In 1820, the Missouri Compromise established the latitudinal line 36 degrees by 30 degrees as the line dividing the north and the south (for purposes of extending slavery)--- every state below that line was permitted to have slavery, and every state above that line, with the exception of Missouri, did not. 

 

Map shows the line 36 degrees by 30. The red states (below the line) permitted slavery, the yellow (above the line) were states that had slavery prior to 1820, the dark blue states (above the line) had already outlawed slavery, and the light blue states would also be free states. Missouri (shown in gray) is the only "new" state above the line to permit slavery.

A copy of the actual document

 

House Speaker Henry Clay (1777-1852) was the chief architect of the bills.