to understand what the Missouri Compromise is and why it's so significant in American history we have to take it back about 200 years now let me set the stage for you the year is 1820 the US is a Young Nation with 22 States 11 free states in the north and 11 slave states in the South but this balance is called into question when Missouri a piece of land acquired from the Louisiana Purchase wanted to be admitted into the Union as a slave state slavery was a highly contentious issue in the US at this point some were pushing for the the total abolition of slavery While others look to expand it this issue pinned families and States against each other creating a powder cake just waiting to explode with tensions already high the idea of Missouri entering as a slave state prompted heated debate in Congress and throughout the nation too not just about Missouri of course but also how slavery factored into all future States and the future of the nation many argued over whether Congress even had the right to spread or limit slavery in the United States at all while Northerners argued Congress should be allowed to prohibit slavery southerners insisted on popular sovereignty the idea that it should be up to the states to determine this for themselves these sentiments sound familiar the biggest sticking point of the debate was political power you see Missouri's entrance as a slave state would throw off the balance of power in Congress so to keep things even Congress hashed out a separate solution a compromise of sorts in exchange for Missouri's admission as a slave state the Northern Territory of Maine would be admitted as a free state this ensured equal representation between the North and the South a second part of the compromise banned slavery throughout the remaining Louisiana purchased territory north of latitude line 3630 but while the Missouri Compromise limited the spread of slavery it did nothing to abolish slavery in states that already had it so while in some ways it staved off a civil war it was only because it just maintained the status quo the admission of Missouri as a slave state only fanned the Flames of the national debate over slavery a fierce disagree that wouldn't be resolved until the end of the Civil [Music] War young people in large numbers came out and joined what became known as the red guards these largely terroristic organizations were used to publicly humiliate assault and in some cases even murder political enemies of Mao and the Communist Party