Missouri Compromise

The Missouri Compromise, enacted in 1820, was a significant agreement to balance the interests of slave and free states in the United States. It allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state while Maine joined as a free state, maintaining a balance in Congress. Additionally, it established a boundary at the southern border of Missouri, prohibiting slavery in the remaining territories north of that line. This compromise aimed to ease tensions between the North and South over the issue of slavery but ultimately highlighted the growing divisions that would lead to further conflict.