The Missouri Question

When the Missouri Territory petitioned for statehood as a slave state, the free states went into an uproar. Mississippi and Alabama had just entered the union as slave states in 1817 and 1819, bringing the number of states up to 22, 11 slave, and 11 free. Northerners were already annoyed that the cheap labor in the slave states threatened to give the southern economy an advantage, and on top of that, the three-fifths slave voting rule gave the southern states a majority in the house of representatives. If Missouri joined, it would give the south a majority in the senate as well. New York representative James Tallmadge proposed an amendment ceasing further import of slaves, and freeing all slaves when they reached 25 (if they were younger at the time of the amendment), but it was shot down quickly. Debates raged, Congress fought, and the whole country was divided. Eventually, in 1820, the state of Maine also petitioned for statehood. The solution was now apparent. Both Maine and Missouri would become states, keeping the Senate even, and a new line of latitude was established, above which slavery was not permitted. However, this conflict was simply the brooding of the storm that was to be the civil war...