What Was The Missouri Compromise

In 1820 the U.S. Senate and The House of Representatives wanted to keep a balance of power between slave and Free states. So the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was created. This compromise made slave states fear that they could lose the power to protect their property and trade.
The Missouri compromise was necessary for many different reasons, one being the balance of power between slave and Free states. Another important reason that the Missouri Compromise was necessary was to balance the power in Congress, because of the advantage the south had due to the enormous amount of slaves in the large number of southern states.\
Even though slavery was prohibited in the Northern states it had slowly been pouring into the Northwest Territory. This was

causing lots of problems with the Free states, the Southerners brought their slaves in under the act of indentured servitude which was legal in those states. This made the Northern states greatly fear the expansion of slavery into the Northwest Territory.

Two amendments were offered to the Missouri statehood bill on February 13, 1819 by Representative, Jame Tallmadge, Jr. The first bill declared that all importation of slaves would be prohibited. The second required that emancipation be gradually given to the slaves already there. Although the House of Representatives passed these amendments with strict guidelines, the senate had rejected it.
After endless debate on March 2, 1820 the Missouri Compromise was passed by the senate. The passing of the compromise increased the conflict between the North and the South. The south believed that the northerners were using slavery as a mask to resurrect the Federalist party.
For thirty years the compromise worked, staying balanced by having two states admitted together one as a slave, one free. In 1850, the balance of states was disrupted when California was declared a stand-alone free state. Further complicating the compromise and stoking the conflict between the North and the South.