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The Missouri Comprise At the time of the Missouri Compromise, territories could become states if they had at least 60,000 people. However, the introduction of more states raised a debate in the Southern States: "would slavery be legal in these new states?". If slavery was illegal in these new states then the South would lose their balance of power, and the North would outlaw slavery. This would severely damage the economy of the Southern states, as their economy was largely dependent on slaves. When Missouri petitioned to become a slave, the issue of slavery arose. Around a year before, Illinois became a free state, and so the South expected Missouri to be slave. But, when a bill was passed that had the release of slaves within years, Alabama became a Slave state instead. This left Missouri in a peculiar position. As the two sides debated and argued about their appropriate views on slavery, Henry Clay managed to resolve the issue. In his recommendation the "Missouri Compromise" Maine (originally apart of Massachusetts) became a free state, and Missouri a slave state, and all U.S. lands in the continent were split at 36 degrees 30' north latitude. Slave states were south of here )with the exception of Missouri which was above the line yet a slave state), free states were north. Yet this was only putting a band-aid on the wound as it foreshadowed the civil war that would eventually come. Works Cited //The Americans Holt McDougal //. Student ed. Orlando Florida: Houghton, 2012. Print.