Debate Missouri as Free State - Banning Slavery "Unjust"

John Randolph (1773-1833), from Virginia, opposed admitting Missouri as a "free" state not because he approved of slavery but because he disapproved of the federal government's interference with it. Almost more than anything else, from a political-philosophy standpoint, he cherished the right of a state to choose its own path.

If Missourians wanted slavery, Randolph argued, they should enter the Union as a "slave state." If they opposed it, Missouri should be "free."

This image is a page from the Congressional Debates on whether Missouri should be admitted as a state and, if so, whether it should be free or slave.

Click on the image to expand its view.