USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -President Polk’s alternative to the Wilmot Proviso was to fall back on the Missouri Compromise, an 1820 law that permitted Missouri to be admitted as a slave state with Maine as a free state. Polk recommended extending the line of the Missouri Compromise west to the Pacific Ocean.

Detailed explanation-2: -Congress adopted this legislation and admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a non-slave state at the same time, so that the balance between slave and free states in the nation would remain equal.

Detailed explanation-3: -Polk wanted to lay claim to California, New Mexico, and land near the disputed southern border of Texas.

Detailed explanation-4: -With eleven slave and eleven free states, each side had the same number of senators. If Missouri became a slave state, the tie would be broken. The South would control the Senate and would be one step closer to legalizing slavery in states newly admitted to the Union.

Detailed explanation-5: -March 2, 1820-The House voted 134 to 42 to prohibit slavery in the Louisiana Territory north of the 36° 30´ latitude line. March 6, 1820-President James Monroe signed the Missouri Compromise.