What do you think of the Missouri Compromise?

[rug]

On the one hand, they can no longer own human beings north of the 36th parallel. But on the other hand, it extends slavery to the West.

What is the pragmatic thing to do? We don't want a civil war. Maybe this compromise will hold for forty years.

[Teaser]

1. stop posting boring stuff

.

[Warren Stupidity]

2. I think Lincoln made a huge mistake by not capitulating on secession.

[Faryn Balyncd]

3. knr

[iamjoy]

4. It Was Unconstitutional

at least, that was more or less what SCOTUS ruled in Dred Scott vs. Sandford (1857). Congress did not have the authority to prohibit slavery in the territories. It was also incomplete, as it did not address the issue which led to the whole Dred Scott petition in the first place - namely, what happens if a resident of a slave owning state moves (temporarily or not) to a non-slave state?

Incidentally, if they'd had Fox News back then, I'm sure you would have had some commentator going off about how unfair it was that a man serving in the military should lose his property because of where he was deployed/assigned.