The Tallmadge Amendment was submitted by James Tallmadge, Jr. in the United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 on February 13, 1819, during the debate regarding the admission of Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

 as a state. Tallmadge, an opponent of slavery, sought to impose conditions on Missouri that would extinguish slavery

Slavery

Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...

 within a generation:

Although the Tallmadge Amendment passed in the House, the Senate, which held a balance of slave and free states, passed a version of the Missouri statehood bill without the amendment. If adopted, the amendment would have led to the gradual elimination of slavery in the Missouri territory. The majorities of the House and the Senate eventually agreed to the Missouri Compromise

Missouri Compromise

The Missouri Compromise was an agreement passed in 1820 between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States Congress, involving primarily the regulation of slavery in the western territories. It prohibited slavery in the former Louisiana Territory north of the parallel 36°30'...

, which did not include the Tallmadge Amendment, but prohibited slavery in the territories of the Louisiana Purchase

Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...

above the 36˚30’ parallel.