On February 17, 1820, the U.S. Senate began debating what became known as the Missouri Compromise. The measure admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state while prohibiting slavery north of latitude 36°30′. It aimed to balance the power between slave and free states. The compromise temporarily eased sectional tensions but foreshadowed conflicts leading to the Civil War. It remains a major milestone in the political struggle over slavery in America.
