Missouri Compromise and the American Colonization Society

Missouri Compromise and the American Colonization Society

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President Monroe

• President #5 (two terms)

• Famed for his "Monroe Doctrine" (we will cover this next week!)

• President during the Era of Good Feelings (1817-1825)

Multiple Choice

Review: Who started the Era of Good Feelings?

• John Adams

• Andrew Jackson

• George Washington

• James Monroe

• Thomas Jefferson

President Monroe

• Had unique views on slavery for the era

• Favored a policy of conciliation with Britain and a policy of expansionism against the Spanish Empire

• Monroe was a member of the American Colonization Society

• Last President to wear a tricorn hat and knee breaches regularly

Missouri Compromise

• In February 1819 a bill to enable the people of the Missouri Territory to become a state

•  Congressman James Tallmadge, Jr. "tossed a bombshell into the Era of Good Feelings" with the Tallmadge Amendment, which would ban the further introduction of slaves into Missouri and required that all future children of slaves should be freed at age 25 

Poll

Do you like the ideas of the Tallmadge Amendment?

• YES

• NO

Missouri Compromise

• This created a stalemate between the anti-slavery "Restrictionists" from the North and the pro-slavery "Anti-restrictionists" from the south, who disagreed about whether to allow slavery in new states being formed from the Louisiana Purchase

• To make matters worse, the number of slave states and free states is equal

A Compromise is reached

• The deal is simple:

• Missouri gets to join the Union as a slave state if Maine joins as a free state

• Also, to encourage future free/slave balance, no slavery would be allowed North of parallel 36°30′ north (the southern boundary of Missouri)

Monroe's personal beliefs on slavery.

• Monroe owned dozens of slaves, yet wanted to free all slaves

• Monroe reiterated his belief that slavery was a blight

• Willing to accept the federal government's financial assistance to emancipate and transport freed slaves to other countries

Open Ended

What do you think about this seeming contradiction in Monroe's life? Why do you think he had slaves if he wanted to free all slaves and ship them away?

American Colonization Society

• Founded by Congress to explore and support the idea of sending freed slaves back to Africa

• As the number of free African Americans grew after the American Revolution, slave owners were worried that freed salves might start a revolt like that in Haiti

American Colonization Society

• Many White Americans saw African Americans as inferior and felt that integration of African Americans was impossible and undesirable

• The American Colonization Society believed the solution was to send freed slaves back to africa

Open Ended

Abraham Lincoln believed that sending the freed slaves to live in thier own nation was the best solution, as it would be hard for society to adjust if the slaves were suddenly given all the rights of a citizen if they had had no right before (both for the slaves and their formal masters). What do you think about this?

American Colonization Society

• Believed that African Americans should be relocated to somewhere they could live free of white prejudice.

• The African-American community and abolitionist movement were VERY opposed to the project, though some slaves were freed under the condition that they leave the country in this way