Missouri Compromise

Hello everybody! Today we discussed details on the life of a typical slave within the South. We also focused on how Southerners justified the institution. For homework, you are going to read the "temporary solution" to the controversy over slavery within the 1810s and 1820s. As I stated in class, the industrialization of the North and the reliance on cotton production and agriculture in the South widened the gap between the North and the South and created controversy over the morality of slavery. By the end of the 1817, there was a delicate balance between slave and free states (10 for each). The controversy over slavery began to appear every time a new state tried to apply for statehood (each side feeling that a majority of the opposing side within Congress would give the North or the South unequaln political power). The admission of Illinois (1818-free) and Alabama (1819-slave) calmed the controversy for a little, but when Missouri applied for statehood, the controversy reopened. Talks of secession became common during the debates on whether Missouri should be slave or free. Thomas Jefferson even said that the controversy "woke him like a firebell in the night," and that the issue would cause the destruction of the Union.

For homework, you are to read the compromise over the Missouri question. Please read and write down the solution to the issue. I then want you to write two full paragraphs on whether the compromise was a good solution to the issue (and explain with details) or whether there was another possible solution that would have ensured the perpetuation of the Union (by using details). Please email me if you have any questions.

Have a great weekend!

~Mr. Mazur