Causes: Missouri applied for statehood but its acceptance would lead to an inbalance of free and slave states in the Senate.
People: Henry Clay, Democrats, Whigs
Effects: Clay proposed that north of the 36°30′ latitude, there would be no slavery, while south of it slavery would be allowed. The Missouri Compromise kept balance of Whigs and Democrats in the Senate for decades but the addition of new states would continue to divide the country until the Civil War.