Missouri Compromise

Congress adopted this legislation and admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a non-slave state at the same time, so that the balance between slave and free states in the nation would remain equal. The Missouri compromise also proposed that slavery be prohibited above the 36º 30´ latitude line in the remainder of the Louisiana Territory. This provision held for 34 years, until it was repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. ... [Read More]

Today in History: August 10
This resolution proved temporary. Congress passed the Compromise of 1850 which admitted one more slave and one more free state to the Union, and abolished the slave trade in the District of Columbia , yet avoided a fundamental decision as to the right of slavery to exist under the Constitution . In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act served to abrogate the Missouri Compromise. And in 1857, as a part of the Dred Scott decision , the U.S. Supreme Court declared the compromise unconstitutional by ruling that Congress had no power to bar slavery from a territory, as it had in 1820. Four years later, the slavery debate erupted in civil war. ... [Read More]

Offer in Compromise
You may request an Offer in Compromise (OIC) by submitting a letter to the Missouri Department of Revenue (department). The offer must include a proposal to pay a sum of money. Missouri law provides three reasons as a basis for an OIC: doubt as to collectiblity, doubt as to liability, or to promote effective tax administration. ... [Read More]

Missouri Became the 24th State
Under the Missouri Compromise of 1820, designed by statesman Henry Clay, Missouri entered the Union as a slave state, and Maine entered as a free state, thus keeping the number of slave and non-slave states equal at 12 each. ... [Read More]

SOS, Missouri - State Archives Dred Scott Case, 1846-1857
Oral arguments began on February 11, 1856, with Blair reiterating the points made in his brief. Geyer and Johnson challenged the authority of Congress to make the 1820 Missouri Compromise; they thus denied Dred Scott's right to freedom. They did not question whether Dred Scott could lose freedom gained by living in a free territory. They questioned whether he was ever free in the first place, since their legal interpretation did not recognize the binding force of either the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 or the Missouri Compromise of 1820. ... [Read More]

SOS, Missouri - State Archives Timeline of Missouri History
The Missouri statehood controversy became a national issue as the issue of slavery was debated. The "Missouri Compromise" allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free state, thus keeping the balance of slave and free states equal in Congress. Although Missouri was allowed to enter as a slave state, the remaining portion of the Louisiana Purchase area north of the 36 ° 30 ¢ line was to be forever free of slavery ... [Read More]

BENTON, Thomas Hart (1782-1858) Bibliography
Benton, Thomas Hart. Historical and Legal Examination of that Part of the Decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the Dred Scott Case, Which Declares the Unconstitutionality of the Missouri Compromise Act, and the Self-extension of the Constitution to Territories, Carrying Slavery Along with it. 1857. Reprint. New York: Johnson Reprint Corp., 1970. ...

Morton, John D. “‘A High Wall and a Deep Ditch’: Thomas Hart Benton and the Compromise of 1850.” Missouri Historical Review 94 (October 1999): 1-24. ... [Read More]

The Missouri - The United States Mint
The Missouri quarter is the fourth quarter of 2003, and the 24th in the 50 State Quarters® Program. Missouri became the 24th state on August 10, 1821, as a part of the Missouri Compromise. The Missouri quarter depicts Lewis and Clark’s historic return to St. Louis down the Missouri River, with the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (Gateway Arch) in the background. The quarter is inscribed "Corps of Discovery 1804-2004." ... [Read More]

The Missouri Compromise
With the admission of Missouri and Maine to the Union, the number of slave states and nonslave states remained equal at 12 each, which prevented the South from having more representation in the Senate (which has two senators from each state), than the North. In addition, slavery would be forbidden north of the latitude line that runs along the southern Missouri border for the remaining Louisiana Territory. Monroe signed Congress's bill reflecting the Compromise on March 6, 1820. ... [Read More]