The first attempt to settle this territorial dispute was an agreement called the Compromise of 1820, which was also known as the Missouri Compromise. This compromise was formed at a time when there was equilibrium between slave and Free states, with eleven of each. The Missouri Compromise was an attempt to maintain the balance in the Senate. As Maine was admitted as a free state, Missouri was simultaneo

In closing, there were three separate positions held by the people of our nation during the time period from 1820 to 1850 with regards to the territorial slavery issue. The south wanted slavery allowed in the new states; the north did not; and some wanted to be able to vote on it. This dispute led to the Compromise of 1850, which made allowances for both sides of the issue. The compromise admitted California as a free state, abolished slave trade in District of Columbia, imposed a new more stringent Fugitive Slave Law, invoked popular sovereignty in New Mexico and Utah, and finally settled the Texas-Mexico border dispute. The Compromise of 1850 settled the issues that divided the United States, but only temporarily. It turned out to be the calm before the storm; which was to become the bloodiest war in world history: American Civil War

Another position taken on the territorial slave issue was an idea known as popular sovereignty. It was a notion shared by a minority of northerners, including Stephen Douglas and Lewis Cass. Popular sovereignty would put the slavery question into the hands of new states themselves, letting them decide whether or not to become a slave state. This idea was one that would appeal to both sides of the issue, and take it out of the hands of Congress. Although popular sovereignty seemed like a feasible plan, it had weaknesses. One of which was its ambiguity; when exactly would these states have to render a decision on their position on slavery? For one, President Abraham Lincoln (Congressman at the time) disapproved of popular sovereignty.

Slavery was not only an institution in the Southern states, but it was part of a lifestyle that had been going on

Some topics in this essay:
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