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Historians have devoted their lives to analyzing

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all of the many causes of the Civil War.

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We don't have the time to go into all of them, because…

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well, that Netflix isn't going to binge watch itself.

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Seriously, though...

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It's way too complicated for a short video, but we can zero in on some of

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the big events that leant a helping hand in ripping the country apart.

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In this edition, we'll take a look at the Missouri Compromise.

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Here's the scoop.

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In 1819, American settlers in Missouri were like…

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"Hey, Congress, how 'bout you make us a state?"

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Trouble was that many of the people in Missouri had migrated from

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the South, bringing their slaves with them.

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The region's slave population topped ten thousand.

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So it was pretty clear that the Missourians would also say,

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"Make that a slave state, please."

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At the time, slave and free states were equally divided, 50/50.

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So admitting Missouri into the Union as a slave state

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would give slave states a majority in the Senate, and the North started freaking out.

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New York Congressman James Tallmadge and many

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northern representatives didn't want to see slavery spread into the West.

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So they pitched that statehood be granted under the condition that slavery

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would be gradually abolished within Missouri's borders.

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No new slaves would be allowed to enter, and the children of all

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those already in Missouri would be freed at the age of twenty-five.

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Wow, and all we have to look forward to when we turn twenty-five

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is reduced car rental costs.Yeah, seems like we've got the better end of that deal.

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Well, this type of slavery killing policy was called gradual emancipation.

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It'd been working like a charm since the Revolution in Northern states like

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Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey.

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This, of course, is what made Southern representatives say,

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"Who do you think you're kiddin'?"

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They knew that after 25 years, free states would have the edge in the Senate.

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So Tallmadge's proposition was dead in the water.

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One year later, Illinois Senator Jesse Thomas designed a compromise

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that he hoped would make everybody happy. ...Except the slaves.

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Missouri would be allowed to be a slave state if it felt like it…which it did.

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But to offset the new slave state, Maine would be admitted to the Union as a free state.

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On top of that, slavery would not be allowed in all remaining territory

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north of the 36º30' parallel, the southern border of Missouri,

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except, of course, within Missouri itself.

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Congress decided that was probably the best idea anybody was going to come

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up with, and voted to adopt Thomas's resolution as the Missouri Compromise.

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The question of the legality of slavery had been successfully postponed yet

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again, but of course it wouldn't last.

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Northern powers opposed to slavery wanted the practice abolished altogether.

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And southern slave owners wanted it expanded like our waist lines during the holidays.

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Speaking of lines…

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This line in the sand between the free North and slave-y South may not have been the best idea.

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Yeah, it did lead to peace for a little while.

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But in the long run, it beefed up regional beefs.

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It was the North versus the South, not the United States.

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Slavery formed the core of the debate, but there was another serious

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issue at stake: the scope of federal power.

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Congressman Tallmadge's proposal would have meant that the

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federal government could place conditions on the creation of state constitutions.

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That's the Feds telling the hippies in California what to do. Not gonna happen.

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Did they really have the authority to do that?

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Well, the Missouri Compromise also left this key question unanswered.

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And as we all know from our training in standardized tests, even if we

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don't know the answer, sometimes it's best to try and bubble in something.

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We usually go for answer B.

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