The Missouri Compromise was primarily proposed and promoted by Henry Clay, who was the Speaker of the House at the time. He sought to settle the intense dispute over Missouri's admission as a slave state by allowing Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state while simultaneously admitting Maine as a free state. This compromise also established a line dividing free and slave territories along the 36°30' parallel. Clay's efforts and parliamentary tactics were crucial in passing the Missouri Compromise in Congress in 1820, an act aimed at maintaining the balance between free and slave states and preventing sectional conflict.
