Chapter 22: The 1820 Missouri Compromise avoids a secession crisis.

At this dangerous point, Speaker of the House and master deal-maker, Henry Clay of Kentucky, negotiates the 1820 Missouri Compromise, which helps to quell the conflict for the next quarter of a century.

To off-set the addition of Missouri as a Slave State, Maine will be admitted as a Free State. Of greater importance will be a new geographical dividing line on slavery in the Louisiana lands proposed by Jesse Thomas of Illinois. It is set along the southern border of Missouri at 36’30” latitude, with all territory to the North being Free and to the South being Slave. This finally passes in the House, but only by a narrow 90-87 edge. Henceforth the South will come to rely on the Senate – not the House – and the presidency to protect their interests within the political realm.

The first sign of this in the political arena surfaces in 1819 when the Missouri Territory applies for admission to the Union. Before a vote in the House is taken, a speech by New York’s freshman Congressman, James Tallmadge, Jr. calls slavery an “abomination against heaven” and offers an amendment requiring that Missouri enter as a “Free State.”

The shocker comes when the House passes the bill by an 87-76 margin with support from the North and West offsetting opposition from the South.

While the Senate blocks the measure, Jefferson calls the Tallmadge Amendment “a fire bell in the night” capable of dividing the Union, and Henry Clay, Speaker of the House, moves immediately to craft an answer acceptable to both sides.

It will be known as the 1820 Missouri Compromise, and it creates a new geographical line of Free vs. Slave State demarcation at 36’30,” extending across the entire Louisiana territory. This move palliates the immediate danger.