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In 1818 Missouri became a state. The
settlers from Missouri wanted it to be a slave state. The Congressmen from
the North did not want another slave state. That same year Maine also asked
to be admitted to the Union.
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In 1820 an agreement called the
Missouri Compromise was reached. The compromise allowed
Missouri to come into the Union as a slave state and Maine would be a
free state. |
Congress drew an imaginary line
across the middle of the United States running from the east coast to the
Pacific Ocean. This imaginary line separated the states into free and slave
states. Any new state entering the Union that was south of the line would be
a slave state. Any state north of the line would enter the Union as a free
state.
Maine became a state in 1820.
Missouri became a state in 1821. For the next 15 years no states entered the
Union. From 1836 to 1850 six states were admitted:
|
Arkansas |
1836 |
slave |
|
Michigan |
1837 |
free |
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Florida |
1845 |
slave |
|
Texas |
1845 |
slave |
|
Iowa |
1846 |
free |
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Wisconsin |
1848 |
free |
In 1850 California asked to be
admitted to the Union. The Missouri Compromise had cut California in half.
Congressmen argued over whether California should enter the war as a free or
slave state.
Henry Clay, the man who worked out
the Missouri Compromise, came out of retirement to try to work out another
compromise. The new agreement was called the Compromise of 1850.
In this compromise Northern California entered the Union as a free state.
The Compromise of 1850 added some
new laws. Buying and selling slaves in Washington, D.C. was outlawed. The
people living in Washington, D.C. could still own slaves, but could not buy
or sell new ones. In the South the land received from Mexico was broken up
into two states, New Mexico and Utah. In these states the settlers could
decide for themselves whether they wanted slavery or not.
The South was able to get Congress
to pass a new law called the
Fugitive Slave Law which said that any slaves escaping from the south to
freedom in the north should be returned to their masters. Bounty hunters
received a bounty for each slave they returned. Some free black people were
captured by bounty hunters and sold as slaves. Any person who did not help a
bounty hunter could be punished under the law.
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