Missouri Compromise
Definition
An agreement passed by Congress in 1820 between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions that regulated slavery in western territories, admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state.
Analogy
The Missouri Compromise is like a group project agreement where everyone has different ideas but they find a middle ground to keep the peace. However, just like in some group projects, this compromise didn't last long and tensions eventually escalated.
Related terms
Compromise of 1850: A package of five separate bills passed by Congress that defused political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired during the Mexican-American War.
Kansas-Nebraska Act: An 1854 law that allowed voters in Kansas and Nebraska to choose whether to allow slavery within their borders, effectively repealing the Missouri Compromise.
Sectionalism: Loyalty or support for particular regions or sections of a nation, rather than to the country as a whole; often associated with differing economic interests or customs among regions.
"Missouri Compromise" appears in:
Study guides (3)
Additional resources (1)
Practice Questions (16)
- Who is considered the great Compromiser after his role in the Missouri Compromise and Compromise of 1850?
- Why did the Missouri Compromise succeed while the Tallmadge Amendment failed?
- What was a significant consequence of the Missouri Compromise?
- Who was known as the 'Great Compromiser' for his efforts on the Missouri Compromise?
- What parallel can be drawn between the Great Compromise and the Missouri Compromise?
- Which regional interest most directly led to the Missouri Compromise in U.S history?
- What was a major consequence of the Missouri Compromise?
- What did the Missouri Compromise attempt to maintain?
- What was a major effect of the Missouri Compromise on African Americans in the Early Republic?
- What might be a plausible outcome if Missouri Compromise hadn't reached an agreement during this period?
- What principle replaced the Missouri Compromise as a result of the Compromise of 1850?
- What is a shared consequence of the Compromise of 1850 and the Missouri Compromise, despite being enacted decades apart?
- Who was the author of the Kansas-Nebraska Act that repealed the Missouri Compromise?
- What could potentially have occurred had the Missouri Compromise not been repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act?
- How did the Missouri Compromise contribute to the Civil War?
- Who served as president when Missouri Compromise was passed?
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