I

.StuDent Handout -!1m

-.~.-- ....
Your-Compromises
Directions: When you have listened to the recordfng and heard the background information for an
issue,· meet with your fellow Northerners or Southerners to discuss your position on that issue. Then,
return to your group of four, interlock your left pinkies, and reach a compromise on the issue. Do not let
go until all four of you have agm8d on the compromise. Then write down the compromise. Afterward,
you will hear what really happened and will be given time to write th~t down as well.
/

ISSUE 1: THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE

The year is 1820. The debate over statehood for Missouri is getting hotter day by day. To
complicate matters, Maine has just appliedfor admission to the union as well. Your job is to
find a way to settle this controversy:that is acceptable to both the North and the South.
!

The North's Starting Position

• Supports statehood for Missouri and Maine as free states.
• Does not want slavery to expand into Louisiana Territory.
• Opposes any solution that makes more slave states than free states.

The South's Starting Position

• Supports statehood for Missouri as a slave state.
• Believes slaveholders have the right to settle in any new territory.
Opposes any solution that makes more free states than slave states.

Your Compromise Should Address These Key Questions

• Should Missouri be admitted to the union as a slave state, a free state, or not at all?
• What stand, if any, should Congress take on the spread of slavery across
Louisiana Territory?
• What should Congress do about Maine's request for statehood?

© Teachers' Curriculum Institute The Civil War and Reconstruction 69