By 1820, with the rising cotton-wealth of the South, the two sections had become sharply divided over slavery and tariffs, and the interests of both sides were strongly affected by the decision of which territories could be admitted as slave-states and which not.
That is why a line had to be drawn after the admission of Missouri as a slave-state. In the territories acquired in the Louisiana Purchase, slavery would now be illegal in new states that extended North of the parallel marked by Missouri's Southern border.
Neither side was entirely satisfied with this deal, but at least they were equally dissatisfied, and ironically this kept the situation balanced.
The Missouri Compromise could be counted a success, and only the acquisition of the vast new lands from Mexico thirty years later caused it to be repealed.
Copyright © 2026 eLLeNow.com All Rights Reserved.
