Missouri Compromise

     The Missouri Compromise was passed in 1820 as an agreement between the north and south.  It was written because Missouri, a territory at the time, wished to join the United States.  If Missouri joined then there would be and unbalanced amount of "free" and "slave" states and this would create an unbalanced, "pro-slave" opinion in congress.  To avoid this a northern state had to be added as well.  Because of this part of the northern state of Massachusetts became a new state, Maine.

 

     After this compromise, a bill was written to help avoid any more problems of this sort.  It stated that any state north of the parallel of 36 degrees shall not permit slavery.  This bill was the Missouri Compromise of 1820.