USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -This legislation admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a non-slave state at the same time, so as not to upset the balance between slave and free states in the nation. It also outlawed slavery above the 36º 30’ latitude line in the remainder of the Louisiana Territory .

Detailed explanation-2: -Although Missouri entered as a slave state in 1821, the Compromise outlawed slavery in the remaining portion of the Louisiana Purchase area north of the 36°30′ line, Missouri’s southern border.

Detailed explanation-3: -The majority of Missouri’s enslaved people worked as field hands on farms along the fertile valleys of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. St. Louis, the largest city in the state, maintained a fairly small African American population throughout the early part of the nineteenth century.

Detailed explanation-4: -Missouri attracted slave owners because slavery had been allowed in the area under French and Spanish rule. Later, as American settlers came to the lands opened up by the Louisiana Purchase, a blending of cultures created a unique economic and social system that included slavery.

Detailed explanation-5: -In an effort to preserve the balance of power in Congress between slave and free states, the Missouri Compromise was passed in 1820 admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state.