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However the debate over slavery in Missouri and all the territories of the Purchase would be settled temporarily by the Missouri compromise. Introduced into Congress in 1820, it was called a compromise because it was a deal reached by pro and anti slavery factions. Missouri would become a slave state and there would be no new slave states above the 36th parallel. This compromise left many in the South feeling as if they were holding the shorter end of the stick. Many Southern congressmen felt they had been strong armed into a bad deal by abolitionist congressmen. While the Missouri compromise was the first battle in congress over free and slave states, it would not be the last. .
After the Missouri Compromise, debate over slavery seemed to die down in congress. However, abolitionists were looking for ways to gain more support for their cause. Up until this point, abolitionism was not wide spread. However, in 1831 William Garrison created the Liberator newspaper and printed it in Boston and it became notorious throughout the country. Garrisons scathing articles and comics frequently drew the ire of slave holders and Southern congressmen alike. The Liberator had a huge impact on the abolitionist movement. Even though the actual circulation of the paper was small, many large papers would run Garrisons columns. The liberator helped to show people in the north exactly what was going on in the south. This helped stir up anti slavery feelings the north and helped the abolitionist movement gain a larger following than it could have ever possibly done by itself. .
It was the abolitionist articles such as Garrisons that led Nat Turner to lead a slave revolt in August of 1831. Nat Turner had learned to read and write at a young age and was very smart compared to the average slave at the time. Turner organized over 70 free and enslaved blacks in the rebellion and subsequently killed around 50 whites.