History Discussion - Research Paper Example

The Missouri Compromise of 1820 During the early 1800s, slavery was the most divisive issue in the United s of America. After the revolution, most States in North of Maryland started programs of slowly outlawing slavery, and in the early years of 1800s, the States that still practiced Slavery were in the South. The Missouri compromise in 1820 was a measure presented in the congress to find a way to determine whether slavery would be made legal in the new territories admitted as States to the union or not.

The Missouri compromise elicited debate in the congress but once passed, the compromise seemed to reduce tension for a time over the issue (Pierce 56-57). The passage of Missouri compromise was very important in that it was the first attempt to get a solution to the matter concerning slavery. But, it is also significant to note that it did not remove the underlying problems. There still existed free and slave States and the divisions over slavery would take years and bloody outbreak of civil war to resolve the issue.

The Missouri Compromise in 1820 was engineered to allow Missouri to become a slave State while Maine on the other side a Free State. In this manner, the number of Slave and Free States in America would in turn become equal leading to a balanced share of power in Congress without any State or region benefiting at the expense of the other. The most significant aspect of the Missouri compromise was that there was an agreement that no State or territory to the North of Missouri Southern Border could accept to enter the Union as State that accepted slavery (Burgan 44).

This part of compromise eventually stopped slavery from spreading to the rest of Louisiana Purchase. The Northern States strongly opposed slavery while the Southern States were in favor of it. Expansion of slavery in the U.S would imply that there would be an increase in territorial population and space. This at the end would mean that the Southern States had more power or increased power in the House. In addition, the Southern States had less black population as compared to the Northern States. The U.S House had three fifth of black population while the rest was white population.

Therefore, approval of Missouri as a slave Sate would imply that there would be increased Southern representation in the House thus making the Northern States insecure. In addition, the Missouri compromise of 1820 made the congress to reach a compromise over slavery issue in that it reached its first compromise on how to regulate slavery in new States and Territories. While the Missouri compromise looked to have handled the issue of Slavery, its impact still lay years in the future. Slavery issue was far from settled in that further compromises and Court decisions would be very vital in the debates concerning slavery (Pierce 71).

Thomas Jefferson was worried about the Missouri crisis stating that, it would dismantle the Union, his worries were not realized for a long time when civil war began and the issue of slavery was fully settled. Summarily, the Missouri compromise eased and solved internal conflict in the Union and set up new rules that guided the U.S house concerning the issue of Slavery. Works CitedBurgan, Michael. The Missouri Compromise. New York: Campass Point Books, 2006. Print. Pierce, Forbes. The Missouri Compromise and Its Aftermath: Slavery and the Meaning of America.

Carolina: University of Southern Carolina, 2007. Print.