THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE.
ADOPTED MARCH 6, 1820.
An Act to authorize the People of the Missouri Territory to form a Constitution and State Government, and for the Admission of such State into the Union on an equal Footing with the original States, and to prohibit Slavery in certain Territories.
(All the previous sections of this act relate entirely to the formation of the Missouri Territory in the usual form of territorial bills, the 8th section only relating to the slavery question.)
And be it further enacted, That in all that Territory ceded by France to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude, not included within the limits of the State contemplated by their act, slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the parties shall have been duly convicted, shall be, and is hereby, forever prohibited. Provided always, That any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed, in any State or Territory of the United States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid.
THE STATES OF THE UNION.
The following is a list of the States constituting the Union, with the dates of their admission. The thirty-six stars in our national flag are therefore designated as under: