In the early parts of the 19th century, the debate over slavery was heating up. In 1803, the United States acquired the Louisiana territory from the French, and when Missouri applied for statehood in 1817, the question of whether it would be a slave of free state became an issue. In 1819, Congress was on the verge of allowing Missouri to be ratified as a state, but a proposed anti slavery amendment to the constitution by Representative James Tallmadge of New York caused a large debate over the introduction of slaves into Missouri and the issue of slavery overall. The amendment, known as the Tallmadge amendment passed in the House of Representatives, but failed in the Senate, leading to more dissent among America’s political leaders.
When Maine requested to be recognized as a state, it was to join the Union as a free state, with Missouri joining as a state with no restrictions on slavery. In the debates that followed, an amendment was suggested by Illinois Senator Jesse B.Thomas that banned slavery above Missouri’s northern border: the 36°30′ latitude, while allowing Missouri to introduce slaves, but admitting Maine a free state. The debate raged on for a year, but Henry Clay was able to convince many members of Congress that Thomas’ proposal was the best solution. After the proposal, named the Missouri Compromise, was passed Henry Clay became known as the “Great Pacificator” due to his ability to put aside sectional issues for the improvement of America. Maine was accepted into the Union shortly after.
However, after the Missouri constitutional convention allowed state legislature to deny entry to free blacks in the state, Clay was forced write up the second Missouri Compromise. Congress agreed that Missouri had overstepped its bounds, and stated that it could not join the Union until it got rid of this law. Congress demanded that no clause could be placed in Missouri’s legislation that could be interpreted in a way that would infringe on the rights of US citizens. After this, Missouri was finally accepted into the Union as the 24th state of the United States on August 10, 1821.
The Missouri Compromise was able to mediate the sectional issues surrounding slavery for almost 30 years when California was admitted as a free state, upsetting the balance between the two sections. Afterwards, the Missouri Compromise was virtually overturned in the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, where both Kansas and Nebraska were given the right to have popular sovereignty decide the state’s stance on the issue of slavery. Just a few years later, the Missouri Compromise was deemed unconstitutional in the Dred Scott decision, when the Supreme Court ruled that congress had no right to prohibit slavery in the territories. Even despite this, the Missouri Compromise is a large part of American history because it lay the stage and background for the largest conflict in US history, the Civil War.
https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Missouri.html
https://www.history.com/topics/missouri-compromise
http://www.historynet.com/missouri-compromise
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/supreme-court-rules-in-dred-scott-case
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ReplyDeleteGreat job on this post! The slavery debate is a prominent topic of the Pre-Civil War era. The Missouri Compromise reveals the true intentions of both the North and the South. Not all northerners were abolitionists who wanted to outlaw slavery in the south. Most people just wanted to maintain an equal number of slave states and free states so that there would be a balance of power. The Missouri compromise wasn't an attempt to end slavery, but it did help control the slavery debate for quite some time. Eventually, people realized that it was not possible for the country to thrive as a divided nation, as stated in Lincoln's "House Divided" speech. The Missouri Compromise could only postpone conflict, but of course, the Civil War came along anyway.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Reading this made me think about Henry Clay. His name pops up countless times throughout our studies of the 19th century, so I thought I'd summarize some of the major events of his life. Leader of the Whig Party, Clay was consistently devoted to the economic development and political integration of the United States. He was a "War Hawk" during the War of 1812 -- war with England was necessary to preserve Atlantic trade stability. He was antislavery (but owned slaves), protected Indian rights (unsuccessfully), and opposed the Mexican War. He championed the American System, wanting the government to help aide and boost the domestic economy with protective tariffs, free education, and transportation improvements. He was also known as the "Great Compromiser" due to his ability to craft genius compromises such as the the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. This figure was instrumental in our nation's history, and frankly we could use some compromises like his today!
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Great post! I did not remember the Tallmadge Amendement. I thought that it was clever to point out that their had to be a 2nd Missouri Compromise which is something that does not get discussed a lot. I thought that you could have expanded a little bit more on sectional divisons and how both sides just want to push the debate further and further down the road. What I found what was interesting was the debate that was going on in the Senate. Many senators, led by Rufus King, believed that Congress that the power to regulate slavery while more Southern Senators believed that it did not. What is interesting that either was talking about abolition but rather the legality over the situation. Overall thought, it was a great post and I liked the detail that you included in it.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.history.com/topics/missouri-compromise