A history of the American nation by McLaughlin Andrew Cunningham 1861-

Author:McLaughlin, Andrew Cunningham, 1861- [from old catalog]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: New York, D. Appleton and company
Published: 1909-03-25T05:00:00+00:00

mission as a State. The friends of slavery sought to make the admission of Maine dependent on the admission of Missouri without the Tallmadge amendment. A compromise was finally agreed upon (1820). It provided for the admission of Missouri as a slave State, but with this exception there was to be no slavery in the Territory purchased from France under the name of Louisiana north of the line 36° 30'. Maine was also admitted.*

A question of considerable interest was discussed in the

course of the debate. Could Congress place conditions

upon the admission of a State ? It was strongly

Constitutional ^rgued that it could, and as strongly that it

questions. ^ ' '^ ^

could not. This can be said with some certainty, that Congress can make no conditions permanently binding upon a State which would deprive it of equality with other States. Congress has power to admit new States into this Union,f and "this Union," it was cogently and rightly said, is a union of equal States. When the bills came before Monroe he hesitated to sign them. Was it within the power of Congress to banish slavery from this Western land ? He finally signed the bills, and there seemed in 1820 to be a general belief that the compromise was constitutional.

When Missouri presented herself for final admission into the Union, it was discovered that the Constitution contained a clause forbidding the entrance of free The second ncOToes. This caused difficulty anew; but a

compromise. ^ -^ '

compromise was adopted, through Clay's effort, whereby Missouri was admitted, but with the understanding that citizens of other States should not be deprived of

* The line of 36° 30' is the northern line of North Carolina. The northern boundary of Tennessee varies slightly from this parallel, running somewhat to the north, between the mountains and the Cumberland River. West of the river the line of 36° 30' is the northern boundary.

f Constitution, art. iv, sec. 3.

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