2. The Missouri Compromise (1820)
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, maintaining the balance between free and slave states in the Senate. Additionally, it established the 36°30′ parallel as the dividing line, prohibiting slavery in territories north of this latitude, except within Missouri. While this compromise temporarily alleviated sectional tensions, it ultimately delayed, rather than resolved, the conflict over slavery’s expansion (history.com).
