18.3 The Missouri Compromise
1. Missouri asked to join the Union as a slave state.
2. When Missouri asked to join the Union there was an
slave states. There were 11 of each.
equal number of free and
3. Henry Clay was a Congressman from Kentucky who proposed the
Missouri Compromise, which allowed Missouri in as a slave state and Maine in as a
free state. In addition to that, Clay suggested drawing a line across the US at
latitude 36 ͦ30’ line north. Except in Missouri, slavery would never be allowed north
of that line.
4. Do you think that the Missouri Compromise was a document that would ensure
peace in the US? Why or why not?
Oregon
Country
Spanish
Possessions
Not American Territory
Missouri Compromise Line
Closed to slavery by Missouri Compromise
Free states and territories
Open to slavery by Missouri Compromise
Slave states and territories
18.5 The Compromise of 1850
1. As a result of the Mexican American War, the US gained a huge amount of
territory in the west and southwest.
2. Henry Clay suggested a compromise known as the Compromise of 1850.
3. To please the North, Congress admitted California into the Union as a free State
and stopped the sale of slaves in Washington,
D.C.
4. To please the South, Congress said that people in New Mexico and Utah could
vote on whether to allow slavery in their territories.
5. As part of this compromise, the Fugitive Slave Law was also passed. The Fugitive
Slave Law stated that Northerners must help capture runaway slaves. How do you
think Northerners will respond to this law?
Territory Open to Slavery
Slave state
Free state or territory
18.6 “Bleeding Kansas”
1. According to the Missouri Compromise, Kansas and Nebraska (both north of the
36 ͦ30’ line), should have been admitted to the Union as free states.
2. In 1854, Congress passed the Kansas Nebraska Act , which allowed the
people in the 2 territories to elect representatives to choose to either be free or
slave states.
3. On election day,
pro-slavery settlers won by a huge margin.
4. After the election, there was much fighting and killing which led Kansas to be
called “Bleeding Kansas.”
5. What are your thoughts about the Kansas-Nebraska Act? Was it “right”?
Free state or territory
Popular sovereignty Territories
Slave state