1819

On February 13, 1819, New York Congressman James Tallmadge Jr. introduced an amendment to Missouri's statehood bill that would ban the further introduction of slavery into Missouri and free the children of enslaved people there at age 25. The amendment passed the House but was blocked by the Senate. It ignited a national crisis that John Quincy Adams called 'a title page to a great tragic volume.' Slaveholders saw it as an existential threat; Northern free-soilers viewed Missouri's admission as a test of slavery's future. The crisis was temporarily resolved by the Missouri Compromise of 1820, but the underlying conflict between free-labor and slave-labor expansion was laid bare.

Despite growing Northern discomfort, Congress repeatedly refuses to regulate or restrict the interstate slave trade in the 1810s and 1820s. Proposals to ban the transport of enslaved people across state lines are defeated by Southern blocs. The trade expands enormously as cotton frontier opens in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The US government thus actively enables the largest forced migration in American history.

Despite growing Northern discomfort, Congress repeatedly defeats proposals to restrict or ban the interstate slave trade during the 1810s and 1820s. Southern congressional blocs block all measures. The trade expands enormously as the cotton frontier opens in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, enabling the largest forced migration in American history.