The Richmond Enquirer adopted an ostensibly proslavery position in temporarily opposing the Missouri Compromise. Ritchie said that Missourians needed slave labor to clear their lands. He may have thought that when Virginians sold their surplus slaves to emigrants to Missouri, the likelihood that they would consent to the abolition of slavery in Virginia increased. Ritchie feared that the Missouri Compromise would enable the “free states” to eventually greatly outnumber the “slave states,” facilitating the repeal of the “three-fifths clause” and the eventual abolition of slavery everywhere. The Enquirer eventually supported the abolition of slavery in the Northern public lands, granting most importance to preserving the Union.