the Missouri Compromise

The Missouri Compromise, enacted in 1820, was an agreement intended to balance the power between slave and free states in the U.S. It allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state while Maine entered as a free state, maintaining the balance. Additionally, it established a line (the 36°30' parallel) across the Louisiana Territory: slavery was permitted south of this line and prohibited north of it, except for Missouri. This compromise temporarily eased tensions over slavery, but it ultimately highlighted deep divisions that would contribute to the Civil War.