Question

Why wasn't the Missouri Compromise of 1820 enough to end tension between the North and South by the 1840s?

Answer 1

Answer: Some new territories went both above and below the line of compromise.

Explanation:

The Missouri Compromise divided Northern and Southern states on the slaves issue. The compromised passed as law in 1820, it forbade slavery in Louisiana and it considered Missouri as a slave state. Anything north the 36/30 parallel was considered slave free.

However, since the state of Missouri was considered a slave state, the South had one state more than the North and it was considered that the slave states had more power, because a slave counted as 3/5 of a person.

Thomas Jefferson predicted that dividing the country between slave and slave free states would lead the country to civil war.