The opening of Chapter I
Original Compromises between the North and the South embodied in the Constitution.--Early Dissatisfaction with National Boundaries. --Acquisition of Louisiana from France by President Jefferson.-- Bonaparte's Action and Motive in ceding Louisiana.--State of Louisiana admitted to the Union against Opposition in the North.-- Agitation of the Slavery Question in Connection with the Admission of Missouri to the Union.--The Two Missouri Compromises of 1820 and 1821.--Origin and Development of the Abolition Party.--Struggle over the Right of Petition.
The compromises on the Slavery question, inserted in the Constitution, were among the essential conditions upon which the Federal Government was organized. If the African slave-trade had not been permitted to continue for twenty years, if it had not been conceded that three-fifths of the slaves should be counted in the apportionment of representatives in Congress, if it had not been agreed that fugitives from service should be returned to their owners, the Thirteen States would not have been able in 1787 "to form a more perfect union." These adjustments in the Constitution were effected after the Congress of the old Confederation had dedicated the entire North-west Territory to freedom.