the Missouri compromise of 1820 did not have lasting effect which is best explanation for this?
There are several possible explanations for why the Missouri Compromise of 1820 did not have a lasting effect. Here are a few:
1. The Compromise did not address the underlying issue: The Missouri Compromise sought to maintain a balance between free and slave states by admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. It also established a line (36°30') beyond which future states would be admitted as either slave or free. However, it did not address the fundamental disagreement over the expansion of slavery, and this underlying issue continued to fuel tensions over time.
2. Changing political and social landscape: The Compromise reflected a temporary solution to a pressing issue but did not anticipate the significant changes that were about to occur in the country. The rise of the abolitionist movement and its increasing influence, as well as the westward expansion and the acquisition of new territories, rendered the Missouri Compromise obsolete.
3. Growing sectionalism: As the country continued to expand westward, sectionalism between the North and the South deepened. The Missouri Compromise did not address the increasing regional differences and conflicts of interests, leading to further divisions and ultimately the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861.
4. Ineffectiveness of compromise measures: While the Missouri Compromise was able to temporarily maintain a balance, it failed to resolve the issue of whether slavery should be allowed to expand into new territories. Subsequent compromises, such as the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, attempted to address the same issue but only fueled further tensions and disagreements, ultimately leading to the dissolution of the compromise itself.
5. The Dred Scott decision: In 1857, the Supreme Court's ruling in the Dred Scott case effectively invalidated the Missouri Compromise. The Court declared that Congress did not have the power to prohibit slavery in the territories, thereby undermining the foundation of the Compromise and further intensifying the divide between the North and the South.
Overall, the complex and evolving nature of the slavery issue, as well as the changing political and social dynamics of the time, contributed to the lack of lasting effect of the Missouri Compromise of 1820.