Answer:
The Missouri Compromise was a piece of legislation passed by the United States Congress in 1820 aimed at easing tensions between the North and the South over the issue of slavery. At the time, there were 11 free states and 11 slave states in the country. The Missouri Compromise sought to maintain a balance between the number of free and slave states, thereby preserving the delicate political balance between the two regions.
Under the terms of the Missouri Compromise, Missouri was admitted to the Union as a slave state, while Maine was admitted as a free state. In addition, a line of latitude known as the 36°30' parallel was established as the boundary between free and slave territories in the Louisiana Purchase region. States north of this line were to be free, while those south of it could be slave states.
The Missouri Compromise was seen as a temporary solution to the problem of slavery in the United States, but it did succeed in easing tensions between the North and the South for a time. However, the Compromise was eventually overturned by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which led to further tensions and ultimately the Civil War.
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