Missouri Compromise

Definition

An agreement passed by Congress in 1820 between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions that regulated slavery in western territories, admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state.

Related terms

Compromise of 1850: A package of five separate bills passed by Congress that defused political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired during the Mexican-American War.

Kansas-Nebraska Act: An 1854 law that allowed voters in Kansas and Nebraska to choose whether to allow slavery within their borders, effectively repealing the Missouri Compromise.

Sectionalism: Loyalty or support for particular regions or sections of a nation, rather than to the country as a whole; often associated with differing economic interests or customs among regions.