The first major compromises reached between the slave states and the Free states to create and preserve the Union are the Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act.
In 1820 the Missouri Compromise was established and the unequal balance of slave states and Free states were solved by making Missouri a slave state and Maine a Free state, this compromise also divided the rest of the Louisiana Purchase into slave and free land.
In 1819 Missouri demanded permission from the Union become a slave state but the Union knew that the request would upset the balance between slave states and Free states.
Northern states passed laws in an effort