11. What did the Missouri Compromise ensure?
- ll would ensure that there were equal amount slave and free states to keep the
balance of power
- it would ensure the use of popular sovereignty as the deciding factor on the legality
of stavery
- it would ensure the expansion of slavery to support the South
and prevent any conflict over new states being free or slave
The Missouri Compromise, enacted in 1820, aimed to address the balance of power between slave and free states in the United States. Here's a step-by-step breakdown of what the Missouri Compromise ensured:
1. The Missouri Compromise ensured that there were equal numbers of free and slave states, thus maintaining a balance of power between the two factions.
2. As part of the compromise, Missouri was admitted as a slave state and Maine was admitted as a free state. This maintained the balance in the Senate, where each state had equal representation.
3. Additionally, the Compromise established a line known as the 36°30' parallel, which determined the boundary between free and slave territories in the Louisiana Purchase region.
4. North of the 36°30' line, slavery was prohibited, while south of the line, slavery was permitted.
5. Popular sovereignty, which allowed residents of a territory to vote on whether to allow slavery, was not a part of the Missouri Compromise. It was later introduced as a principle in the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.
Therefore, the Missouri Compromise ensured the balance of power between free and slave states, established a geographical boundary for slavery, and did not explicitly guarantee the expansion of slavery to support the South.