Missouri’s bumpy road to statehood continued early in 1821 with the approval by Congress of the First Missouri Constitution. The territory presented the Constitution to Congress in November 1820, setting off an immediate reaction by those opposing admitting Missouri as a slave state.
The grounds involved a clause requiring the General Assembly to enact a statute prohibiting free persons of color from moving into the state. Some states recognized the citizenship of freed slaves, and thus objected to enacting such a prohibition. Opponents claimed any such statue would violate the privileges and immunities clause of the U. S. Constitution in Article IV, Section 2, Clause 1. This clause prevents states from treating citizens of other states in a discriminatory manner.
The Senate passed a resolution to admit the territory on December 11, 1820, but the House refused to do so until the General Assembly dealt with the offending clause. A stalemate appeared imminent, but once again Henry Clay stepped up to craft a compromise. The terms of this compromise included an authorization from Congress to President James Monroe to approve the admission of Missouri. This depended on the General Assembly passing a “solemn public act” stating it would never interpret the offending clause as endorsing any law abridging the privileges and immunities of U. S. citizens.
The passage of this Second Missouri Compromise ensured that the bill for admission went to the President, who signed it on March 2, 1821, contingent upon passage of the “solemn public act.” Missourians considered Henry Clay a hero for his double role in statehood. The General Assembly passed such an act on June 26, setting the stage for the final step toward admission of Missouri into the Union.