PBS
Africans in America: Missouri Compromise
This PBS site offers information about the compromise that settled the question of whether slavery would be allowed in the vast area acquired from France in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Freedom: History of Us: Fatal Contradiction: Missouri Compromise [Pdf]
A lesson plan from the producers of the 16-episode PBS series "Freedom: A History of US" that examines the goal of the Missouri Compromise. A good lesson for comparing and contrasting life in the North and South in the run-up to the...
Tom Richey
Tom richey.net: The Missouri Compromise: America's First Slavery Debate [Ppt]
Presents key ideas for examining the events surrounding the Missouri Compromise.
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Missouri Compromise
Provides interesting facts and important information about the 1820 Missouri Compromise, a settlement reached between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions on the extension of slavery into new territories.
Other
American Anthropological Association: 1800 1850s: Expansion of Slavery in the Us
Outlines the political events prior to the Civil War as the United States expanded its territories to include new states and conflicts arose over the issue of slavery.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: A Divided Nation
This page from the American Revolution Project of the University of Groningen discusses how the 1850s were a time of conflicting ideas between North and South regarding the expansion of slavery. Scroll down to the third paragraph and...
iCivics
I Civics: Slavery: No Freedom, No Rights
From the basics about slavery to the attitudes that defended it and the efforts of those who wanted to see it abolished, in this instructional activity students learn about this dark part of America's past.
University of Oregon
University of Oregon: Mapping History: Compromise of 1850: Status of Slavery
An interactive map that clearly shows the change in the status of slavery in territories from the Missouri Compromise to the Compromise of 1850. Click on the map to see the status before and after the Compromise of 1850.
Thomson Reuters
Find Law: Landmark Decisions
This site details the controversial issues regarding slavery and the effects they had on the Civil War amendments as well as on the fifth amendment. The site discusses events such as the Dred Scott case, the addition of the Civil War...
Curated OER
Etc: Maps Etc: The Result of the Missouri Compromise, 1821
A map of the United States in 1821 showing the results of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 over the issue of prohibition of slavery. The map is coded to show the areas of the Free States, the Slave States, the Michigan Territory as Free...
Digital History
Digital History: The Tallmadge Amendment [Pdf]
The question of the expansion of slavery into the territories of the United States was an old question that was addressed again in the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Read about the Tallmadge Amendment and the opinions supporting and...
The History Cat
The History Cat: Countdown to Civil War
Describes the events leading up to the start of the American Civil War. Looks at clashes between pro- and anti-slavery groups, the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the fight over California, the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act,...
Digital History
Digital History: The Impending Crisis: Conclusion
A concise review of the ways the issue of slavery split the country from the Missouri Compromise to eventual secession of the southern states.
University of Oregon
University of Oregon: Mapping History: Kansas Nebraska Act: 1854
Toggle back and forth on this interactive map to see how the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 completely negated the Missouri Compromise. Click on the map to see where slavery was permitted before 1854 and then after. Be sure to click on the...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The Kansas Nebraska Act
Read about the essential repeal of the Missouri Compromise, which had established which states could be slave and which would be free for thirty years, with the rancorous passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. See who supported it and why,...
US National Archives
Our Documents: The Kansas Nebraska Act
An outstanding, interactive copy of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the legislation that repealed the Missouri Compromise. Historical context included, as well as links to larger images, a typed transcript, and a downloadable PDF file.
CommonLit
Common Lit: Text Sets: The Civil War
This is a collection of 29 Grade-Leveled texts (6-12)on the topic The Civil War. The American Civil War lasted for only 5 years but divided the country along bitter lines as the North fought to keep southern states from seceding from the...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: The Kansas Nebraska Act and Party Realignment
Learn about the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Passed in 1854, it reopened the debate over the expansion of slavery in the United States.
ClassFlow
Class Flow: The Debate Over Slavery
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart contains information about the renewed debate over the spread of slavery after the Mexican War. It describes the Wilmot Proviso, popular sovereignty, the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive...
US Capitol Visitor Center
U.s. Capitol Visitor Center: 1820 1861: Holding the Union Together
American history from 1820-1861 is interwoven with the history of the Capitol as it was expanded to accommodate a growing government body. A timeline of significant events in the debates over slavery, the addition of free and slave...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: The Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854
An exploration of how the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 impacted the debate between free and slave states, and the precarious political equilibrium. It looks at how Stephen Douglas tried to avoid a national conflict in the debate over...
PBS
Pbs: Bleeding Kansas 1853 1861
This site details events surrounding the era known as "Bleeding Kansas" due to the conflict surrounding slavery in what is now Kansas.
Library of Congress
Loc: Biographical Directory of the u.s. Congress: Jesse B. Thomas
Biography of Senator Jesse Burgess Thomas, whose amendment was added to the Missouri Compromise which addressed the issue of the spread of slavery.
Digital History
Digital History: The Kansas Nebraska Act
An explanation of how the Kansa-Nebraska Act in effect voided the Missouri Compromise, which had been the law that dictated the territories that could allow slavery. Read about the act proposed by Stephen A. Douglas, and see how a...