Missouri Compromise

The Missouri Compromise of 1820 had established a clear line (36°30′ latitude) across which slavery was prohibited in western territories. However, as westward expansion continued, pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions clashed over whether new territories should permit slavery. The Kansas-Nebraska…

<p><span class="deck">Over the question of whether Missouri should be admitted to the Union as a free or slave state in 1820, creative moderates brokered an ingenious compromise that averted civil war.</span></p>