What Was the Missouri Compromise?

And Other Questions about the Struggle over Slavery

From the Series Six Questions of American History

  • Interest Level: Grade 4 - Grade 6
  • Reading Level: Grade 5

When the Missouri Territory applied for statehood in 1818, the United States had an equal number of free states and slave states. The territory’s leaders wanted Missouri to be a slave state. But that would have destroyed the balance of representation in Congress. A heated debate broke out. The southern representatives and Missouri’s leaders thought states should be able to decide the slavery question for themselves. Northern members of Congress thought otherwise. Would the Union split apart over the question of slavery? The Missouri Compromise settled the argument and saved the Union—temporarily.

So why was the Missouri Compromise of 1820 so controversial?
Who was the great compromiser?
What were the terms of the Missouri Compromise?

Discover the facts about one of the most debated compromises in U.S. history.

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Interest Level Grade 4 - Grade 6
Reading Level Grade 5
Genre Social Studies
Copyright 2012
Publisher Lerner Publishing Group
Imprint Lerner Publications ™, LernerClassroom
Language English
Number of Pages 48
Publication Date 2012-01-01
Reading Counts! Level 5.5
Text Type Informational/Explanatory
BISACS JNF025270, JNF018010
Dewey 973.5'4
Graphics Full-color illustrations
Dimensions 7 x 9
Lexile 840
Guided Reading Level T
ATOS Reading Level 6.2
Accelerated Reader® Quiz 149575
Accelerated Reader® Points 1.0
Features Bibliography/further reading, Index, Sidebars, Source notes, Table of contents, Teaching Guides, Timeline, and eSource

Author: Wendy Hinote Lanier

Wendy Lanier is an author, teacher, and speaker who lives in Beaumont, Texas. She has written books for Lerner Books, Capstone Press, Lucent Books, and KidHaven Press. She also regularly contributes work to various magazines and websites. Wendy has a B.S. in Speech Communication Disorders and a M.Ed. in Elementary Education. She has taught grades 3, 4, 6, and 7 specializing in the areas of science, social studies, and language arts. She began writing full time in 2008 after teaching for nearly twenty years.

Lerner eSource™ offers free digital teaching and learning resources, including Common Core State Standards (CCSS) teaching guides. These guides, created by classroom teachers, offer short lessons and writing exercises that give students specific instruction and practice using Common Core skills and strategies. Lerner eSource also provides additional resources including online activities, downloadable/printable graphic organizers, and additional educational materials that would also support Common Core instruction. Download, share, pin, print, and save as many of these free resources as you like!

Six Questions of American History

Explore pivotal moments in US history, from colonial times to the Civil War. Discover the who, what, where, when, why, and how of important events such as the Pilgrims settling at Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Abraham Lincoln issuing the Emancipation Proclamation. Writing exercises at the View available downloads →