because violence was becoming a reality between residents (settlers) in the territories itching to become states who wanted the new state to be one in which slavery was legal and those who did not. read more
The Missouri Compromise maintain the political balance within the US Federal government between slave and free by keeping the same number of states slave and free. This meant that the US Senate was nominally 50% slave and 50% free. read more
When Missouri applied for statehood in 1819, there were eleven free states and ten slave states. Southerners expected Missouri to become a slave state to maintain the balance of power in Congress. After Alabama was admitted as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. read more