The Missouri Compromise
Slavery
Slavery had been a hotly contested issue in the United States following the end of the American civil war. Prior to the civil war, the slavery had been common in the United States with slaves being brought to work in the plantations that the whites owned especially in the Southern states. Abolitionist reforms began in the North that was opposed to slavery which was one of the factors that resulted in the civil war. After the war, Free states were created in the North while the South continued slavery due to the large plantation that needed a lot of labor and which was provided by the blacks.
The balance of power
Following the revolution, the number of states had increased from thirteen to twenty two, with the Free states being eleven while the southern slave states were eleven as well. This balance ensured that there was a balance of power within congress and in the House of Representatives. This balance enabled each of these two sides to participate equally in matters discussed within congress and in the House of Representatives as well as prevent the passage of any law that could have negative implications on any of the two groups. This balance started to change when the slave holding states in the south began to get concerned that they would be outnumbered in congress since they had a smaller white population as compared to the northern Free states.
In addition, the House of Representatives under the constitution at the time provided for representation founded on the total number of the white population in addition to three-fifths of the total black population. The constitution also allocated each of the states two senators only. In addition, there was a rapid increase in the population of the northern states. All this factors made the southern states to start feeling as if overpowered by the northern states with the south occupying less that fifty percent of the seats within the House of Representatives as the Free states had a hundred and five votes as compared to eighty one that the southern states had.
The states of Missouri and Maine
After the war, white immigrants began to settle in Missouri from 1815 with most of them coming from the states of Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentucky. There numbers increased over and they petitioned for it to become as state in 1817 which was at first denied. Missouri was the first territory that was within the initial area that had been purchased under the Louisiana Purchase from the French to apply for statehood. The leaders in Missouri wanted it to be a state that did not have any restrictions on slavery since most of the settlers had come form the South. This was a move that sparked anger among the politicians from the northern states that were Free states.
If the petition for statehood would be granted, the balance of power would be disrupted as the southern slave states would have more seats in the senate which would give them a majority number of seats. A second petition was raised in March 16, 1818 in the House of Representatives to grant Missouri statehood by John Scott who was the delegate to congress of Missouri. Since it was an election year, the petition was postponed in addition to the fact it would lead to the south having more seats which the north did not want. Another petition was introduced by Henry Clay who was the speaker at the time December 18, 1818.
This was countered by James Tallmadge, who was the representative for New York. He introduced an amendment bill to the petition that prohibited the introduction of slavery in to the state of Missouri. The amendment also required that all of the slaves who would be born there should be emancipated when the attained the age of twenty five. This bill was able to pass within the House of Representatives but was not able to pass the senate stage as it was defeated since the southern states hade much greater strength. In the senate, the amendment bill was separated so as to consider the two parts of the bill on their own.
The southern senators were able to argue that congress did not posses any powers to prevent slavery from being practiced in Missouri. Rufus King, who was a senator from New York, was among the senators who were opposed to the amendments stating that the constitution did not have the power to limit congress. In addition, William Pinckney who was the senator for Maryland stated that the exercise of admitting new states should be done in a manner that would equal the two sides of the original states. As such, he argued that each of the states had their own power to self determine with regards to the issue of slavery. Each of the sides maintained their stands without wanting to reach a compromise on the issue.
The sixteenth congress that was convened December, 1819 still had the two sides opposing over the granting of statehood to Missouri. In addition, the House of Representatives differed with congress as it still agreed to the statehood of Missouri while congress was still divided. It was during this time that Maine, which was a free territory in the larger Massachusetts, asked to be granted statehood as well. This brought to two the regions asking for statehood magnifying the division in congress between the two opposing sides.
It was at this point that Henry Clay, the speaker of the house, decided to bring a balance between the two opposing sides in congress. Maine wanted to be admitted in to the Union hence it would be a free state. As such, the speaker ruled that for Maine to be admitted in to the Union, Missouri also had to be made in to a state. He also stated that the senators from the Free states would have to withdraw the amendments they had proposed on Missouri that had restricted slavery.
The Missouri compromise
Despite the persuasion by the speaker, the two opposing sides were still adamant to reach an agreement. This deadlocked reigned until 1820 when they agreed to have the two states admitted, with Missouri joining the southern slave states while Maine joined the northern Free states. Congress agreed to pass both states in one single bill that was introduced by John Taylor on January 26, 1820 that allowed the people of Missouri to make amendments that would enable them to form their own state constitution.
This bill was accompanied by an amendment that resulted from the motion tabled by Jesse. Thomas that in effect excluded slavery from the remaining region of the Louisiana Purchases territory that was to the north of the 3630 latitude. Though this amendment was rejected by the House of Representatives, it was later agreed that it should pass following a committee that was formed from the members of both houses which agreed to treat the two bills separate. The two bills were both approved on March 5, 1820, with consequent ratification on March 6, 1820 James Monroe, the president at the time.
Problems arising from the compromise
The leaders in the newly formed sate of Missouri were not happy with the delay that they encountered in their petition for the formation of the state of Missouri. They felt that congress had overstepped its powers by trying to interfere with affairs that were of interest to themselves alone. This made them to include a provision within their new state constitution that barred the immigration of free blacks in to the state in 1821. The provision required the exclusion from the state of all free Negroes as well as mulattoes. As such, no free slaves or mulattoes would be able to enter the state or settle within the state. This sparked a new controversy as northern legislators objected to this provision in the Missouri constitution.
The renewed rivalry was worse that the one experienced earlier with there being numerous threats of dissolving the Union. The provision included by the state of Missouri was found to be discriminatory as it was against citizens of black and racial races. The provision was not consistent with the provisions of the United States constitution that granted that the citizens of any of the states was entitled to all of the immunities and privileges that were enjoyed by the citizens of another state. With the eventual defeat of this provision in the Missouri constitution, the southern house representatives and senators charged the northern senators and representatives that they were being unfairly treated.
The rivalry between the northern and the southern legislators was intensified due to the fact that Maine, which had been recently admitted in to the free states already had two senators in congress yet the north had been able to exclude Missouri from the senate. In order to ensure that this enmity would come to an end, the two senators from Maine sided with the southern legislators so that senators from the state of Missouri could be added to congress. John Holmes, one of the two senators from Maine was able to garner support from the rest of the southern senators in pushing for the inclusion of Missouri senators on to congress.
Together with the house speaker, Henry Clay, and a committee comprised of twenty three representatives and seven senators whom he chaired, John Holmes was able to broker a second compromise that saw the admission of Missouri in to the union and the inclusion of the Missouri senators in to the senate. This new compromise held that Missouri would join the Union upon the essential condition that there would be no law enacted by the state that would be in any way discriminatory as provided in the constitution of the land. The state was to accept this condition and would have to record this assent by signing the condition and sending an authentic copy of the Act to the president of the country.
Missouri accepted these conditions and was admitted in to the union on an equal position as the original sates of the union on all aspects. The second compromise was prepared by the Henry Clay and was signed by the president on March 2, 1821
Importance of the compromise
The Missouri compromise was significant as it helped to stop the spread of slavery in the United States. The compromise enabled the prevention of slavery from spreading to the north and was only practiced in the south whose economy was heavily dependent on as it was the major source of labor in the large plantations. The compromise therefore led to the passage of law that resulted in prohibiting of slavery and the slave trade. The compromise line that was drawn following the 36 302 latitude ensured that all of the states that were north of it would be Free states. As such, any new state that would be created in this region would have to be a free state.
The compromise set the stage for anti slavery movements which were equally successful in bringing the end of slavery in the united sates. In 1832, the Antislavery society was formed in New England which was followed by the bigger American Antislavery society within the northern Free states which led to the eventual abolition of slavery and slave trade in the United States. In addition, the large number of white population in the north as compared to the one in the south made it easier for abolitionist movements to gather momentum and ensure the end of slavery.
The Missouri compromise helped to reestablish the balance of power between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery states within the congress and in the House of Representatives. This was important as it enabled these two factions not to be involved in any activities that could have led to war breaking out considering that the American civil war had occurred not so long ago and reconstruction efforts had not been successfully complete yet. This was important because the balance of power ensured that the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in congress were satisfied with the equal representation in congress and therefore there were no tensions between the two factions. With the two sides equal in congress, there would be no chance of passing any law that could have been negative to one of the sides resulting in disagreements and possible war.
The balance of power was so important such that there were no other states added from 1820 until 1836 when Arkansas was admitted as a state joining the south as a slave state while Michigan was admitted as a state to the free states in 1837. This brought the total number of states to twenty six with each side of the divide have thirteen states each.
Future consequences of the Missouri compromise
A new compromise was enacted in 1850 that saw the conventional line agreed by congress passing on the 36 302 latitude scrapped off as the sate of California was added as a free state. In addition, the states of Utah and New Mexico joined the southern states practicing slavery. This was followed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act that was passed in 1854 and in effect repealed the earlier Missouri compromise. The new Act produced a new reorganization of the free and slave states. This was because the Act enabled two new states, Nebraska and Kansas, which were located to the north of the 36 302 latitude to become slavery states. In addition, the states that became open to slavery increased as the pro-slavery states expanded both to the north and the west.
In 1857, a United States supreme court made a ruling that challenged the constitutionality of the 1820 Missouri compromise. In the Dred Scott V. Sandford case, Scott, who was a slave, had lived together with his master within Illinois which was a free state. He also had lived with his master in Wisconsin, which was a territory that slavery was prohibited in accordance with the Missouri compromise. Following the death of his master, Scott had lodged a case with the Missouri courts asking for his liberty on the basis that he had lived as a slave in a free state. The Supreme Court delivered a ruling against Scott where it argued that congress had been deprived of the right to take away any property owned by an individual without following the due process of the law by Fifth Amendment. As such, the Missouri compromise that had banned slavery north of 36 302 had been unconstitutional.
Conclusion
Slavery and the balance of power led to the passing of the Missouri Compromise. Slavery had been a hotly contested issue in the United States following the end of the American civil war. Prior to the civil war, the slavery had been common in the United States with slaves being brought to work in the plantations that the whites owned especially in the Southern states. After the war, Free states were created in the North while the South continued slavery due to the large plantations that needed a lot of labor which the blacks provided. This led to a balance of power as the two sides had equal number of states.
Leaders from the newly settled Missouri asked for statehood with slavery being allowed in the new state. The balance of power that existed before Missouri asked for statehood would be disrupted as the southern slave states would have more seats in the senate which would give them a majority number of seats if the petition for statehood would be granted. Maine, which was a free territory in the larger Massachusetts, also asked to be granted statehood as well leading to a widening of the disagreement as it wanted to be admitted in to the Union hence it would be a free state. This led to the brokering of the Missouri compromise that resulted in Missouri joining the southern slave states while Maine joined the northern Free states.
Problems arose from the Missouri compromise with legislators in Missouri including a provision in there state constitution that required the exclusion from the state of all free Negroes as well as mulattoes. As such, no free slaves or mulattoes would be able to enter the state or settle within the state. This problem was solved by a second compromise that saw the admission of Missouri in to the union and the inclusion of the Missouri senators in to the senate. The Missouri compromise was significant as it helped to stop the spread of slavery in the United States. The compromise enabled the prevention of slavery from spreading to the north. The Missouri compromise also helped to reestablish the balance of power between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery states.
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