The debate over the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the subsequent birth of the Republican Party can be traced back to the enactment of the Missouri Compromise of 1820. The Missouri Compromise concerned the territory acquired from the Louisiana Purchase, which both expanded America's land holdings, while ... posing a threat to the delicate balance achieved in Congress. The dilemma began with the application of Missouri as a slave-state. If admitted, Missouri would upset the even proportion of slave states and free states within the U.S. Senate. Thus the Missouri Compromise was created which called for the admittance of Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. The balance was maintained, yet the vast territories were suddenly a problem.