mar 6, 1820 - Missouri Compromise

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The Missouri Compromise was an effort by Congress to lessen the tensions created by the request of Missouri in 1819 for admission as a slave state. At the time, the United States was made up of 22 states, evenly divided between slave and free. The admission of Missouri as a slave state would upset that balance. After the Senate and the House passed different bills, a compromise bill was worked out with the following provisions: (1) Missouri was admitted as a slave state and Maine as free, and (2) except for Missouri, an imaginary line was drawn across the former Louisiana Territory, establishing a boundary between free and slave regions. The United States Congress passed the legislation on March 3, 1820, and President James Monroe signed it on March 6, 1820.

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