In the early 1800s, slavery was a very big problem. Southern farmers and plantation owners believed that owning slaves was their right. Northern abolitionists believed that slavery should have been illegal everywhere. The North and South argued over whether and where slavery should be legal. A man named James Tallmadge proposed an amendment that would have ended slavery. This bill faced opposition from the South and ultimately failed. Then a man named John Taylor tried to pass a similar bill to end slavery altogether, but got the same result. Both bills failed and, with the North and South at loggerheads, it looked like it would divide the nation and provoke a war between the North and South. That’s when a senator named Henry Clay had an idea. Using his position, he influenced the House to accept a compromise created by Jesse B. Thomas between what the North and South wanted. This was called the Missouri Compromise. By the end of 1819, Missouri sought statehood. This, however, frightened the North, which wanted to become a slave state. Becoming a slave state would have disrupted the balance and caused the number of slave states to be greater than that of free states. The North feared this because it meant that the slave states would dominate the free states and give the South the advantage in Congress. With the North represented by Senator Rufus King and the South represented by William Pinkney, Congress was debated from December 1819 to March 1820. Fortunately, around the same time that Missouri sought statehood, so did Maine. The North saw this opportunity and quickly used it to maintain balance and please the war-ready South. It was implemented in 1...... middle of paper ...... h many slaves were able to escape to free places like Haiti and Canada, others were not this chance. The Missouri Compromise was, however, very successful. imperfect document that stalled the civil war for at least thirty years. The compromise framed the westward expansion of slavery. He established many laws regarding slavery that would prevent Northerners from preying on Southerners and sharing in the war even sooner. Finally, it separated the economic, political, and ethical interests and beliefs of the northern, southern, and western regions of the United States. Although this delayed the Civil War for at least thirty years, it was inevitable. We will ultimately have to confront the issue of slavery head on. Slavery was going to be tolerated everywhere or nowhere. The North had decided that slavery would not be tolerated and the South seceded from the United States..