ShmoopTube

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[ musical flourish ]

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And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by the Missouri Compromise,

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the decision-making process for choosing what

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kind of music to listen to while on the Oregon trail.

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Cha-ching.

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All right, how did the Missouri Compromise temporarily ease tensions over slavery?

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And here are the potential answers.

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[ buzzing ] [ mumbling ]

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[ mumbling continues ] Hmm.

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Well, in the first half of the 19th century, tensions

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were mighty high regarding what the country would do

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with the new territories acquired through the Louisiana Purchase.

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Let's see what the Missouri Compromise did to keep both sides at bay

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for just a little while longer.

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Did the Missouri Compromise ease tensions over slavery

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A - by putting an end to the Atlantic slave trade?

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Well, the Missouri Compromise came about in 1820.

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The Atlantic slave trade ended with an 1807

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Act of Congress. So A kind of misses the boat by at least 13 years.

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Would the Missouri Compromise have soothed

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political fears B - by establishing a clear line

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between the North and South?

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Well, the Compromise did include a proviso to divide

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the Louisiana Purchase territories between slave

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and free at a specific parallel.

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Like, here.

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But that line didn't extend throughout the entire

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North and South. So cross B off the list.

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Could the Compromise have helped

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D - by allowing citizens to vote on the legality of slavery?

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Ah, now we're too early.

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The 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed citizens

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to vote on the legality of slavery and, boy, did those polls pack a punch.

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So it's not D, either.

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Which means that the Missouri Compromise temporarily

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eased tensions over slavery C -

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by creating a balance between the number of free

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and slave states.

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When all that territory was added to the U.S.

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in the Louisiana Purchase,

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both sides were afraid of the other gaining

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too many votes as new states joined the Union.

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In the Missouri Compromise, Missouri was added as

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a slave state and Maine was added as free,

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which kept both sides with an equal number of states.

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So the correct answer is C.

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Of course, this Compromise would soon dissolve,

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dragging the country into the Civil War.

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It wasn't even fun while it lasted.

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[ explosion ]

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