Congress admitted Maine to the Union as a separate free state in 1820 to balance the admission of Missouri, a slave state. The balance of free and slaveholding states established by the Missouri Compromise did not last however. Another compromise on the extension of slavery in 1850 eventually failed, and the nation headed toward civil war.
Sec. 2. Be it enacted . . . , That the inhabitants of that portion of the Missouri Territory . . . are hereby, authorized to form for themselves a Constitution and State Government, . . . and the said State, when formed, shall be admitted into the Union, upon an equal footing with the original states, in all respects whatsoever.
Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives and Records Administration
Amendment to the bill for the admission of the State of Maine into the Union allowing for the admission of the State of Missouri, January 6, 1820
The Missouri Compromise
To achieve national unity, the country’s founders did not confront the issue of slavery in the Constitution, but left it for future generations to resolve. In the nineteenth century, applications for statehood from western territories threatened the balance of free and slave states in the Senate. When Missouri, which allowed slavery, applied for statehood in 1819, Congress struggled for a way to maintain the Union despite strongly opposing pro- and antislavery constituencies. After heated debate, Congress adopted the Missouri Compromise, which admitted Maine as a free state to balance Missouri and prohibited slavery north of the 36º 30’ latitude in the Louisiana Territory. Congress shifted the basis for determining the status of slavery in each territory from the territory’s geographical location to a popular vote by its inhabitants. Slavery remained a burning issue that threatened the Union and led to the Civil War.
Congress admitted Maine to the Union as a separate free state in 1820 to balance the admission of Missouri, a slave state. The balance of free and slaveholding states established by the Missouri Compromise did not last however. Another compromise on the extension of slavery in 1850 eventually failed, and the nation headed toward civil war.
Sec. 2. Be it enacted . . . , That the inhabitants of that portion of the Missouri Territory . . . are hereby, authorized to form for themselves a Constitution and State Government, . . . and the said State, when formed, shall be admitted into the Union, upon an equal footing with the original states, in all respects whatsoever.
Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives and Records Administration
