Which plan divided the Louisiana Purchase into free and slave territories?

• A. Missouri Compromise
• B. Dred Scott decision
• C. Kansas-Nebraska Act
• D. Compromise of 1850

Answer: (A)

The plan that divided the Louisiana Purchase into free and slave territories was the Missouri Compromise. It set a boundary at 36°30′ north across the Louisiana Purchase, declaring that lands north of that line would be free and lands to the south would allow slavery, with Missouri admitted as a slave state and Maine as a free state to maintain balance in Congress. This solution aimed to manage the spread of slavery into new territories as the country expanded. The other options involve different events or regions: the Kansas-Nebraska Act later allowed popular sovereignty for those territories and effectively undermined the prior line; the Dred Scott decision was a Supreme Court ruling about citizenship and slavery in general; the Compromise of 1850 dealt with territories acquired from Mexico and did not establish the Louisiana Purchase division.