1820: The Deciding Vote. A Missouri Crisis Simulation

Driving Question, 1820

Should Congress have the power to limit slavery in new states?

Spin to Receive Your Role

You cannot choose your side. History chose for you.

AWAITING ASSIGNMENT

Spin the ticker to discover your role in this debate.

January 1820. Washington, D.C.

Missouri has applied for statehood. Congress is at a breaking point.

The question is straightforward, but the stakes could not be higher: Should Missouri join the Union as a slave state or a free state? Northern and Southern congressmen have lined up on opposite sides. One undecided member holds the swing vote. That member is Representative Samuel Reed, and he is listening.

Your Assignment

I. Read your role brief and know your position before you open any documents.
II. Study at least two of the four primary sources from 1819to1820. Rep. Reed has read all of them.
III. Use your notes to identify which documents best support your argument.
IV. Debate Rep. Reed across six rounds in Congress. Your answers shape how he responds.
V. Earn his vote, or find out what you needed to argue differently.

Reed is weighing three things: constitutional authority, the stability of the Union, and the balance of political power. Your argument needs to address at least one of them to move him.

Rep. Samuel Reed

Undecided · Border State

"I have heard every speech this session. What I have not heard is a single argument I could not pick apart. Show me you understand what is actually at stake here."

REED WILL WEIGH YOUR ARGUMENT ON THREE QUESTIONS:

Is it constitutional? Does it protect the Union? Is it fair to all states?

YOUR ROLE

Your role

Your goal

PRE-DEBATE BRIEFING

Reed has read these. Have you?

Rep. Reed has already studied all four of these. Read at least two before you face him. The debate will go differently if you do.

Read at least 2 documents to begin the debate.

DOCUMENT

Title

📄 MY NOTES

✓ Saved

Notes are kept as you move between documents.

THE DEBATE

Make Your Case to Rep. Reed

Listening.

REED'S INTEREST

Still deciding.

THE VERDICT

Rep. Reed Has Decided

📄 My Case Notebook

Help

Your goal: Convince Rep. Reed using primary source evidence.

Read each document carefully before answering the questions.
The HAPP analysis unlocks in stages. Your answers become your notes.
Choose documents that genuinely support your role's argument.
Build a complete argument: claim, evidence, reasoning, and rebuttal.
Reed will challenge you. Be ready to defend your weakest point.

Tip: Students who read all three documents carefully win more often than those who click quickly.