Crittenden Compromise

Crittenden Compromise

Lincoln’s election in 1860 was viewed by many white southerners as a sign that the federal government was about to take steps to end slavery, whether the south agreed with the proposition or not. The Republican Party was dedicated to stopping the spread of slavery into the territories, and many believed that it was only a matter of time until Lincoln and his supporters would threaten the institution where it already existed.

As secession and civil war loomed on the horizon in late 1860, U.S.

Senator John J. C rittenden of Kentucky promoted a political compromise that he hoped would keep the nation whole. Called the “Crittenden Compromise,” the proposal primarily dealt with concerns among the southern states that R epublican Abraham Lincoln’s election as president posed a serious threat to the institution of slavery. Crittenden introduced legislation calling for six new amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and several congressional resolutions designed to protect slavery in states where it already existed and in the territories. Crittenden’s plan included permanently reinstituting the so-called Missouri Compromise line and extending the protection of slavery south of that line all the way to the Pacific Coast; protecting slavery in the District of Columbia; strengthening fugitive slave laws; accepting popular sovereignty as the method through which questions related to slavery in the territories could be resolved; and in general restricting the power of the federal government to tamper with the institution of slavery. Crittenden introduced his proposal as a joint resolution on December 18, 1860.

The south supported the plan, as did representatives from the border states, but it was met with disapproval by Lincoln and northern Republicans who were dedicated to stopping the expansion of slavery.

After much debate the compromise was defeated in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Crittenden also introduced legislation calling for a national referendum on his proposal, but the Senate took no action on the bill. The Crittenden Compromise represented the final effort to reconcile the slaveholding and non-slaveholding states. A few months after it was voted down, the Civil War began with the firing on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861.