Why Did The Missouri Compromise Occur

Before the Missouri Compromise there was a lot of tension between the North and South because of slavery. Though it became even more heated after the Missouri’s 1819 request for admission into the Union as a slave state, which threatened the balance between slave and free states. The reason why the balance was disrupted was because before the request from Missouri there were an even amount of slave and free states. As well as, it would set a precedent for congressional consensus to the increase of slavery. So, to help ease the tension between the states Congress created a two-part compromise, which is known as the Missouri Compromise. To ease the tension Congress granted Missouri’s request which allowed it to become a slave state but also passed an amendment that drew an imaginary line across the Louisiana Territory. …show more content…
Representative James Tallmadge even tried to propose an amendment which would essentially end slavery, during the time the Missouri request but the effort was defeated. The debate whether Missouri should be a slave or free state occurred for over a year. Northerners argued that Congress than had the power to prohibit slavery while the Southerners said they should have the freedom to choose whether the state should be slave or not. Though after a lot of debate they were soon able to come up with a compromise. The first part of the compromise was Missouri was admitted as a slave state while Maine was a free state. Than the second part of the compromise was with the exception of Missouri slavery would be forbidden from the Louisiana territory to the north latitude of