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: -Why was the Missouri Compromise so important to the Senate? It maintained a delicate balance between free and slave states. On the single most divisive issue of the day, the U.S. Senate was equally divided. If the slavery question could be settled politically, any such settlement would have to happen in the Senate.

Detailed explanation-3: -There were 11 free states and 11 slave states. This is significant because there was an equal number of free and slave states. This balance of states was important, as one extra state-slave or free-would tip the balance of power in the U.S. government.

Detailed explanation-4: -Why was it important to try to keep “a balance of power” between free and slave state states in th early 1800s? As long as there was an equal number of free states and slave states, the struggle over congressional power was balanced.

Detailed explanation-5: -Missouri Compromise, (1820), in U.S. history, measure worked out between the North and the South and passed by the U.S. Congress that allowed for admission of Missouri as the 24th state (1821). It marked the beginning of the prolonged sectional conflict over the extension of slavery that led to the American Civil War.