The Missouri Compromise: The American Civil War

In the early years of America's history, our leaders did the best they could to prevent conflict amongst themselves. Northern and southern states had to constantly find a middle ground. However, each compromise was only temporary. No one wanted to make a firm decision on sensitive issues that divided the country, such as slavery. The American Civil War was a result of years of neglect to truly resolve the differences between northern and southern states.

In 1819, Missouri applied for statehood. Missouri wanted to become a slave state. At this time, the United States was comprised of eleven slave states and eleven free states, which was perfectly even. The northern states fought hard to keep Missouri from entering the country as a slave state. If this happened, the slave states would have a majority in Congress. Luckily, Senator Henry Clay came up with a solution: the Missouri Compromise.
The following are terms of the Missouri Compromise:
Missouri would enter the United States as a slave state as long as Maine entered as a free state, keeping representation in Congress equal.
In addition, Congress created a dividing line south of Missouri. Territories above parallel 36°30' north …show more content…
Under the Missouri Compromise, Nebraska must enter the United States as a free state. Southern states blocked Nebraska from gaining statehood. Senator Stephen Douglas wanted Nebraska to become a state, so he proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which overturned the Missouri Compromise. Kansas, which was above 36°30' north latitude, would be allowed to decide whether or not to allow slavery by popular sovereignty. The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the 36°30' north latitude as the deciding line for free or slave states. This compromise gave the northern states Nebraska and the southern states a greater possibility of slave-holding states. The Kansas-Nebraska Act would ultimately lead to deeper division and