1820

THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE

When the Missouri Territory first applied for statehood in 1818, it was clear that many in the territory wanted to allow slavery in the new state. Part of the more than 800,000 square miles bought from France in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, Missouri was known as the Louisiana Territory until 1812, when it was renamed to avoid confusion with the newly admitted state of Louisiana.

Missouri’s bid to become the first state west of the Mississippi River—and to allow slavery within its borders—set off a bitter debate in a Congress that was, like the nation itself, already divided into pro- and anti-slavery factions.

During the debate, Rep. James Tallmadge of New York proposed an amendment to the statehood bill that would have eventually ended slavery in Missouri and set free the existing enslaved workers living there. The amended bill passed narrowly in the House of Representatives, where Northerners held a slight edge. But in the Senate, where free and slave states had exactly the same number of senators, the pro-slavery faction managed to strike out Tallmadge’s amendment, and the House refused to pass the bill without it.

After this stalemate, Missouri renewed its application for statehood in late 1819. This time, Speaker of the House Henry Clay proposed that Congress admit Missouri to the Union as a state that allowed slavery, but at the same time admit Maine (which at the time was part of Massachusetts) as a free state.

In February 1820, the Senate added a second part to the joint statehood bill: With the exception of Missouri, slavery would be banned in all of the former Louisiana Purchase lands north of the 36º 30’ latitude, which ran along Missouri’s southern border.

In March 3, 1820, the House passed the Senate version of the bill, and President James Monroe signed it into law four days later. The following month, the former President Thomas Jefferson wrote to a friend that the “Missouri 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. It is hushed indeed for the moment. But this is a reprieve only, not a final sentence.”

Though the Missouri Compromise managed to keep the peace at the time, it failed to resolve the pressing question of slavery and its place in the nation’s future. Pro-slavery citizens who opposed the Missouri Compromise did so because it set a precedent for Congress to make laws concerning slavery, while abolitionists disliked the law because it meant slavery was expanding into new territory.

The Missouri Compromise would remain in force for just over 30 years before it was repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. In 1857, the Supreme Court ruled in the Dred Scott decision that the compromise was unconstitutional, setting the stage for the Civil War.

Source

History.com – Missouri Compromise

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Films

Multi-Part series

Bending the Arc Project explores the struggle against racism in Alabama through feature films and reels and clips. The feature films are full-length movies with conclusions and calls to actions. Reels and clips are compilations of clips from oral histories on civil rights-related topics.

Complexity

The stories illustrate the complexity of the cultural, political, religious, and economic factors that influenced the civil rights struggle—and the moral commitment that empowered those who stood up for justice to work together to create positive change.

The culture of segregation, hateful rhetoric and acts of violence earned the city the name “Bombingham.”

Multiple-Part Series

The Bending the Arc Project explores the long struggle against racism in Alabama through feature films in addition to reels and clips. The feature fims are full-length movies with conclusions and call to actions. The reels and clips are a compilation of interviews on the same topic.

The Complexity

feature film

Origins

A film about the foundations of racism in Alabama, from the slave trade and the proliferation of slavery through the Civil War; Reconstruction; the violent backlash against emancipation; and the re-enslavement of African Americans through the convict leasing system. The film features descendants, Black and white, of people who were enslavers or who were enslaved on Alabama plantations.

Voices

Discussion Guide

feature film

the vote

A film about the hard-fought battle to expand voting rights to all people in Alabama in the 1960s—sacrifices made, lives lost, and the need to continue the fight.

REVIEWS

Voices

Discussion Guide

Lesson Plan

Reels And Clips

The following videos were produced by the Bending the Arc Project in collaboration with Kids in Birmingham 1963 and Sandpiper Advisory Group. These classroom-ready videos include clips from primary-source interviews along with primary-source archival images, many from the Library of Congress. The videos were funded by a grant from the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) Southern Region Program, managed by the Center for Historic Preservation at Middle Tennessee State University.

Content created and featured in partnership with the TPS program does not indicate an endorsement by the Library of Congress. 2026.

First-hand accounts of the culture of segregation in Birmingham in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s

Voices

The Bending the Arc Project features the stories of both African Americans and a small group of little-known white allies who fought for racial justice during the Civil Rights Movement.

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The Bending the Arc Project features the stories of both African Americans and a small group of little-known white allies who fought for racial justice during the Civil Rights Movement.