Missouri Compromise
Perhaps the most ominous division during the Era of Good Feelings was the sectional disagreement over the slavery issue. The Union was evenly divided between slave states and free states. Both sides were wary of losing power to the other. This made the issue of western territories—territories that would eventually become states—particularly volatile.
In 1819, Missouri applied for admission to the Union as a slave state. James Tallmadge, a representative from New York, added an amendment that would gradually emancipate all slaves in Missouri. When the House approved the amendment, southerners angrily protested this threat to the sectional balance. The Senate rejected the amendment as the controversy heated.
In 1820, Henry Clay resolved the stalemate by proposing what would become known as the Missouri Compromise. Maine would enter the Union as a free state, and Missouri would enter as a slave state, thereby preserving the balance. The agreement also banned slavery in Louisiana, north of 36 degrees 30 minutes north latitude. Southerners approved of the compromise because, for the first time in U.S. history, territory would be open to slavery. If you remember, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 had forbidden slavery. The compromise resolved the crisis. Although both sides were wary of each other's intentions, the compromise froze the debate. Politicians defended the compromise as a vital agreement that statesmen should honor.
