1820 - Missouri Compomise

       Congress strikes a deal on the future of slavery.  All new states above the 39^th parallel will be free states.  Below that line, new states will be slave states. By 1854, however, the scales were tipping in favor of the abolitionists and the southern states wanted a new deal. click here for more

  This map shows how the country was already lining up for the Civil War with the Missouri Compromise, which designated non-slave owning states and territories in the dark region, and slave-owning territories in the light (south).