In the 1800s tension was beginning to build between the north and south over the issue of slavery. Three major compromises helped contribute to these tensions and lead to eventual war. These are the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. These compromises and their effects had major consequences that shaped the nation of their time.
In 1820, Congress passed the Missouri Compromise. This compromise agreed to admit Missouri as a slave state and then admit Maine as a free state to keep the balance of free and slave states in the country. It also created the 36’ 30° line. The 36’ 30° line was an imaginary line on the southern border of Missouri above which it was agreed new states could not hold slaves. Many in the south saw this as an act in support of the abolition of slavery, which helped to increase tensions between the north and south over the issue of slavery (Missouri n.d.). 30 years after the Compromise of 1820, Congress passed the Compromise of 1850. …show more content…
Passed by Congress in may of 1854, the Kansas Nebraska Act may be the most significant of the Pre-Civil War compromises. It admitted the Kansas and Nebraska as states, but rather than decide whether the territories would become slave or non-slave states based on their location in relation to the 36’ 30° line, they were allowed to choose for themselves. Kansas and Nebraska were not the only ones allowed to decide though, each territory was allowed to choose for itself if it would be a slave or non-slave state. This allowing of territories to choose slave or non-slave is called popular sovereignty. In popular sovereignty the people of the territory vote to decide if they will become a slave state or a non-slave state. The north was extremely offended by this because it violated the the 36’ 30° line, which had been created by the Missouri
In 1820, Congress passed the Missouri Compromise. This compromise agreed to admit Missouri as a slave state and then admit Maine as a free state to keep the balance of free and slave states in the country. It also created the 36’ 30° line. The 36’ 30° line was an imaginary line on the southern border of Missouri above which it was agreed new states could not hold slaves. Many in the south saw this as an act in support of the abolition of slavery, which helped to increase tensions between the north and south over the issue of slavery (Missouri n.d.). 30 years after the Compromise of 1820, Congress passed the Compromise of 1850. …show more content…
Passed by Congress in may of 1854, the Kansas Nebraska Act may be the most significant of the Pre-Civil War compromises. It admitted the Kansas and Nebraska as states, but rather than decide whether the territories would become slave or non-slave states based on their location in relation to the 36’ 30° line, they were allowed to choose for themselves. Kansas and Nebraska were not the only ones allowed to decide though, each territory was allowed to choose for itself if it would be a slave or non-slave state. This allowing of territories to choose slave or non-slave is called popular sovereignty. In popular sovereignty the people of the territory vote to decide if they will become a slave state or a non-slave state. The north was extremely offended by this because it violated the the 36’ 30° line, which had been created by the Missouri