Analyzing the Sources: Missouri Compromise
Like many polarizing issues in American politics, this agreement was not reached quickly. There was a lot of debate and much angst in the process. Analyze each of these excerpts from primary sources to learn more.
Missouri Compromise
"And be it further enacted, That in all that territory ceded by France to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude, excepting only such part thereof as is included within the limits of the State contemplated by this act, slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall be and is hereby forever prohibited."
- A Portion of the Missouri Compromise
This is part of the text of the Missouri Compromise. According to this primary source, where was slavery "forever prohibited?"
Slavery was forever prohibited in the territory lying north of 36 degrees 30 minutes north latitude. This location ran from the southern border of Missouri to the northern border of the country, but excluded the Missouri territory. This was meant to keep the balance equal in the Union between slave states and free states.
Thomas Jefferson's Letter
"[T]his momentous question, like a fire bell in the night, awakened and filled me with terror. I considered it at once as the knell of the Union... [A]s it is, we have the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other..."
- Thomas Jefferson
This quotation is taken from a famous letter that Thomas Jefferson wrote the month after the Missouri Compromise was enacted. What is the "wolf" to which Mr. Jefferson refers? What does he mean by his comment?
The "wolf" to which Thomas Jefferson refers is slavery. He means that the issue is very dangerous, whether Congress chooses to act or to let matters continue on their present course.
Representative Kinsey's Speech
"I firmly believe that on the question now before us rests the highest interests of the whole human family. Now, sir, is to be tested whether this grand and hitherto successful experiment of free government is to continue, or, after more than forty years enjoyment of the choicest blessings of Heaven under its administration, we are to break asunder on a dispute concerning the division of territory."
- Representative Kinsey
Representative Kinsey gave this speech in the House of Representatives during the debate over passage of the Missouri Compromise. Summarize the main point of Representative Kinsey's comments.
Representative Kinsey is commenting on the importance of the issue before the House—that is, whether Missouri should be admitted to the Union as a slave state. He believes that the manner in which the question is decided could very well determine the fate of the Union. That it, it is possible that the Missouri question could lead to the disintegration of the United States.
Mr. William Smith's Speech on the Senate Floor
"Sir, the State of New York... has just got rid of her slaves. After doing so, their first object was to bring about a general emancipation. If they succeeded, their great object was accomplished; if they failed, they lost nothing. With us, not only our interest but our happiness is deeply concerned; with them it is only a matter of cold calculation. It is very easy for those who have their fortunes secured in bank stock, or stock of the United States, or money at interest, or money in their coffers, deliberately to proclaim a jubilee to our slaves, in which they have neither interest to lose nor danger to fear."
- Mr. William Smith,
Senator from South Carolina,
Speech on the Senate floor,
February 1820
Senator from South Carolina,
Speech on the Senate floor,
February 1820
According to Senator Smith, how do the investments of northerners differ from those of southerners? How does this difference influence the debate over slavery in new states?
Senator Smith says that, while southerners' financial interests are inseparable from slavery, those of northerners are placed in stocks and bank accounts. Senator Smith claims that the fortunes and "happiness," or way of life, of southerners is affected by the debate over slavery, whereas in the North, the question is really just a theoretical one.
Representative William Plumer's Comment
"The Southern and Western people talked so much, threatened so loudly, & predicted such dreadful consequences, that they fairly frightened our weak-minded members into an abandonment [of their position against slavery]."
- Representative William Plumer
This comment about the debates in the House of Representatives on Missouri statehood was made by Representative William Plumer of New Hampshire. Why do you think southerners and westerners were so passionate about this issue?
Southerners' way of life and livelihood was threatened by the possibility that the balance of slave and free states in Congress would be tilted toward free states. This would give the free states more votes in the U.S. Senate, and the voice of the South would be weakened. Up to this point in the nation's history, the South had an advantage in the House because of the 3/5ths compromise. For westerners, the issue was a matter of states' rights. They were fighting against the idea that the national Congress had the power to legislate on slavery in the states. The westerners believed this was an issue to be decided by each state as its people saw fit.
Representative Thomas W. Cobb' Remarks
"If you persist, the Union will be dissolved. You have kindled a fire which all the waters cannot put out, which seas of blood can only extinguish."
- Representative Thomas W. Cobb of Georgia
Representative Cobb made these dramatic remarks to Representative James Tallmadge of New York. Tallmadge's response to Cobb's remark was, "Let it come!" What did Representative Cobb mean by "seas of blood?"
When Thomas Cobb made these remarks on the House floor, he was addressing Tallmadge as the primary author of an amendment to the Missouri statehood bill prohibiting slavery in that state. When Representative Cobb referred to "seas of blood," he meant that a bloody civil war would be the result if Tallmadge's amendment was accepted. No wonder politicians breathed easier with the Missouri Compromise in place.
