Question

which of the following following events occurred first the discovery of gold in California the Compromise of 1850 the application for Statehood by California or the Missouri Compromise

Answer 1

The event that occurred first:  The Missouri Compromise

• The Missouri Compromise was passed in Congress in 1820.  It admitted Missouri into the Union as a slave state with Maine being added as a free state at the same time, to keep the balance of slave and free states equal.  It also prohibited any future slave states north of the latitude line 36 1/2 degrees north of the equator in territories of the Louisiana Purchase, with the exception of Missouri (north of that line) being admitted as a slave state.  

The other items:

• Discovery of gold in California was in 1848.
• Application for statehood by California was in 1849.
• The Compromise of 1850 was (obviously) in 1850.  As part of the Compromise of 1850, California was admitted to the Union as a non-slavery state.