Civil War Missouri Compromise

Civil War Missouri Compromise

Known as the Missouri Compromise, this agreement which was submitted and past in 1820 was an agreement between the two different parties of pro-slavery and anti-slavery to prohibit all slavery within the Louisiana Territory save for where Missouri was to reside. Before this date, no compromises were passed because neither side agreed on the separate measures or what it would mean she the other side have their way in the area.  As a result of passing the Compromise, a number of different states received similar bills which prevented slavery in these states. However, a number of other states passed bills which allowed slavery within them.

As more states were admitted into the Compromise and encouraged to become “free” states, amendments were eventually created which excluded slavery from occurring within the Missouri Territory. However, these actions would only add to growing discourse between the different factions and how some believed that slavery should be allowed but others did not. As the questions of whether or not this should be allowed in individual states continued, many others began to add their voices into the overall argument and the discourse became more volatile.

Once Missouri joined the Union in 1821, it was not until 1837 that Michigan became the next state to join as a free state. The Kansas-Nebraska Act continued to attack the Missouri Compromise and provisions for it were repealed despite the efforts of many. It was eventually declared that the Missouri Compromise was unlawful and therefore did not cover the individuals who would be considered slaves if it was revoked. Although it was declared unconstitutional, many individuals continued to strongly believe in what the Missouri Compromise attempted to do and made a point of continuing to speak out in support of this and future efforts.