Use the excerpt from the Missouri Compromise to answer the question. Which statement BEST summarizes the goal expressed in this excerpt? A. The goal was to prevent slavery from spreading north of the Mason-Dixon line. B. The goal was to ensure that slavery would remain a Southern institution for all time. C. The goal was to keep abolitionism from influencing governments in newly acquired territories. D. The goal was to balance admission of free and slave states and their representation in Congress.