Advantages Of Missouri Compromise

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ESSAY: MISSOURI COMPROMISE

Compromises have both highs and lows. One of the most widely used criticisms of compromises is that no one gets their way when a compromise is made between two sides. However, in the case of the Missouri Compromise, this was not a problem-in the end. In the beginning however, many problems had to be overcome in order for the compromise to suit both the anti-slavery North and the pro-slavery south. A problem arose when Missouri was proposed as a possible new state to be admitted to the Union. This very quickly became the subject of a national debate. Prior to this proposition, there was an equal amount of pro slavery states in the south and anti slavery states in the north. This meant that the pro slavery and antislavery factions had equal representation in the United States Congress. However, a new state admitted to the Union would disturb this balance, potentially making one faction stronger than the other, causing a large scale confrontation between the pro slavery south and the anti slavery north. This is why this quickly became a heated topic. …show more content…

This proposed plan was called the Missouri Compromise. The compromise stated that slavery states could not be admitted higher than the 36 degree 30’ north parallel-with the exception of Missouri. However, to balance the addition of one pro slavery state, a district of Massachusetts, named Maine, was also admitted to the union as a anti slavery state. This allowed both factions the addition of a state, without losing or gaining any power over the other. This was why the Missouri Compromise truly was a compromise and benefited both the pro slavery states and the anti slavery

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