Library of Congress
Loc: Missouri Became the 24th State
As Missouri became a state, America was divided by slavery. This site from the Library of Congress offers a description of the events, as well as a railroad map, a painting of the Missouri Squadron, and a bust of Henry Clay, designer of...
University of Oregon
Mapping History Project: Missouri Compromise: 1820
Interactive map showing free states and territories and slave states and territories before and after the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Click on the map to choose before or after and the key. Shockwave required.
OpenStax
Open Stax: The Missouri Crisis
This section of a chapter on "Westward Expansion" explains why the North and South differed over the admission of Missouri as a state and how the admission of new states to the Union threatened to upset the balance between free and slave...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The Dred Scott Decision
Read the terms of the Dred Scott decision which determined that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. See why this decision was so controversial and completely unacceptable to the northerners, thus driving an additional wedge...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The Kansas Nebraska Act
Read about the essential repeal of the Missouri Compromise, which had established which states could be slave and which would be free for thirty years, with the rancorous passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. See who supported it and why,...
PBS
Africans in America: Missouri Compromise
This PBS site offers information about the compromise that settled the question of whether slavery would be allowed in the vast area acquired from France in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.
![Digital History: The Tallmadge Amendment [Pdf] Website](https://static.lp.lexp.cloud/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/FPO-knovation.png "Digital History: The Tallmadge Amendment [Pdf] Website")
Digital History
Digital History: The Tallmadge Amendment [Pdf]
The question of the expansion of slavery into the territories of the United States was an old question that was addressed again in the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Read about the Tallmadge Amendment and the opinions supporting and...
Digital History
Digital History: The Impending Crisis: Conclusion
A concise review of the ways the issue of slavery split the country from the Missouri Compromise to eventual secession of the southern states.
The History Cat
The History Cat: Countdown to Civil War
Describes the events leading up to the start of the American Civil War. Looks at clashes between pro- and anti-slavery groups, the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the fight over California, the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act,...
Digital History
Digital History: The Kansas Nebraska Act
An explanation of how the Kansa-Nebraska Act in effect voided the Missouri Compromise, which had been the law that dictated the territories that could allow slavery. Read about the act proposed by Stephen A. Douglas, and see how a...
Curated OER
Etc: Maps Etc: The Result of the Missouri Compromise, 1821
A map of the United States in 1821 showing the results of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 over the issue of prohibition of slavery. The map is coded to show the areas of the Free States, the Slave States, the Michigan Territory as Free...
Curated OER
Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Maps Etc: The Missouri Compromise, 1820
A map of the United States at the time of the Missouri Compromise of 1820. The map is keyed to show the free states by State Action, the free Northwest Territory by the Ordinance of 1787, the free territory north of the Compromise Line,...
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Missouri Compromise
Provides interesting facts and important information about the 1820 Missouri Compromise, a settlement reached between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions on the extension of slavery into new territories.
University of Virginia
Miller Center at Uva: u.s. Presidents: James Monroe: Domestic Affairs
A good summary of the domestic policies of the Monroe Administration. Find out about Monroe's Cabinet, the Panic of 1819, the development of a road system, and the adoption of the Missouri Compromise.
US National Archives
Our Documents: The Kansas Nebraska Act
An outstanding, interactive copy of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the legislation that repealed the Missouri Compromise. Historical context included, as well as links to larger images, a typed transcript, and a downloadable PDF file.
University of Oregon
University of Oregon: Mapping History: Compromise of 1850: Status of Slavery
An interactive map that clearly shows the change in the status of slavery in territories from the Missouri Compromise to the Compromise of 1850. Click on the map to see the status before and after the Compromise of 1850.
CommonLit
Common Lit: Text Sets: The Civil War
This is a collection of 29 Grade-Leveled texts (6-12)on the topic The Civil War. The American Civil War lasted for only 5 years but divided the country along bitter lines as the North fought to keep southern states from seceding from the...
Other
American Anthropological Association: 1800 1850s: Expansion of Slavery in the Us
Outlines the political events prior to the Civil War as the United States expanded its territories to include new states and conflicts arose over the issue of slavery.
US Capitol Visitor Center
U.s. Capitol Visitor Center: 1820 1861: Holding the Union Together
American history from 1820-1861 is interwoven with the history of the Capitol as it was expanded to accommodate a growing government body. A timeline of significant events in the debates over slavery, the addition of free and slave...
Henry J. Sage
Sage American History: James Monroe and the Era of Good Feelings
A complete look at the administration of James Monroe and the policies of the Era of Good Feelings. You can read about the domestic policies, foreign affairs, and important decisions of the Supreme Court made during the Monroe...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: The Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854
An exploration of how the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 impacted the debate between free and slave states, and the precarious political equilibrium. It looks at how Stephen Douglas tried to avoid a national conflict in the debate over...
Library of Congress
Loc: Biographical Directory of the u.s. Congress: Jesse B. Thomas
Biography of Senator Jesse Burgess Thomas, whose amendment was added to the Missouri Compromise which addressed the issue of the spread of slavery.
American Battlefield Trust
American Battlefield Trust: Civil War: Trigger Events of the Civil War
A list with descriptions of the major events that led up to the outbreak of the Civil War.
iCivics
I Civics: Slave States, Free States
In this lesson, students learn about the balance between slave states and free states and their geography, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850.