...This momentous question [Missouri compromise], like a fire bell in the night, awakened and filled me with terror. I considered it at once as the knell [sound of death] of the Union. It is hushed, indeed, for the
moment. But this is a reprieve [delay] only, not a final sentence. A geographical line, coinciding with a
marked principle, moral and political, once conceived and held up to the angry passions of men, will
never be obliterated [destroyed]; and every new irritation will mark it deeper and deeper . . . ---Thomas
Jefferson (Missouri Compromise)
“...If you persist, the Union will be dissolved [disbanded]. You have kindled [started] a fire which all the
waters of the ocean cannot put out, which seas of blood can only extinguish." —Representative Thomas
W. Cobb of Georgia, 1819
4. According to the above passage, which best explains why the Missouri Compromise would deepen sectional
conflict? (4.1)
a. Each act by Congress that increased tariffs would split the Union.
b. While some wanted slavery to end immediately, others wanted it to end gradually.
c. Americans would argue over the line until the issue of slavery was resolved.
d. Adding new states would have re-created the competition between east and west.