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Question by Marina.: How was the compromise of 1850 similar to and different from the missouri compromise?
How was the compromise of 1850 similar to and different from the missouri compromise?

Best answer:

Answer by Emily LH
They are similar because they both address the issue of slavery in pre-Civil War America during the 1800s.

With the Missouri Compromise, the new state of Missouri was admitted as a slave state and the new state of Maine was admitted as a non-slave state. This was done so that an equal and representative balance between slave states and non-slave states would be maintained in the United States Congress. The issue of whether other new states would allow slavery or not was to be determined by location. If a state was below the 36?30’ latitude line, then the state allowed slavery, and if the state was above the 36?30’ latitude line, then the state did not allow slavery.

With the Compromised of 1850, California was admitted as a free state, even though it was divided by the 36?30’ latitude line. Utah and New Mexico were established as territorial governments and granted “popular sovereignty.” This means that they were given the right to vote and decide as a territory whether they would enter the United States union as a free or slave state. Other important parts of the Compromise of 1850 included the abolition of slave trade in Washington, D.C., the establishment of a border between Texas and the United States, and the amendment of the Fugitive Slave Act.

I hope this information helps with your questions. More information about both of these important historical documents can be found on the National Archives Ourdocuments.gov website and the Library of Congress Website:

Missouri Compromise:

http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=22

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Missouri.html

Compromise of 1850:

http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=27

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Compromise1850.html

A general overview of each is also found on the Encyclopedia Britannica website:
Missouri Compromise:http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/385744/Missouri-Compromise
Compromise of 1850: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/181179/Compromise-of-1850

I hope this information is helpful to you. If you have any further questions, please consider visiting your local library.

Best wishes,
Emily

—-
Future Librarian
Graduate Student – MLS
University of Maryland, College Park

“A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people. It is a never failing spring in the desert.”
-Andrew Carnegie

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