Search results
The Crittenden Compromise was an unsuccessful proposal to permanently enshrine slavery in the United States Constitution, and thereby make it unconstitutional for future congresses to end slavery. It was introduced by United States Senator John J. Crittenden ( Constitutional Unionist of Kentucky ) on December 18, 1860.
Dec 2, 2009 · In December 1860, on the eve of the Civil War, Kentucky Senator John J. Crittenden (1787-1863) introduced legislation aimed at resolving the looming secession crisis in the Deep South.
- 2 min
The winner of a bitter four-way contest, Lincoln’s platform, which including halting the westward expansion of slavery, was seen as a serious political and economic threat by many enslavers and their allies, who refused to accept the results of the election. Even before the votes were counted, some argued for rebellion.
- The Situation in Late 1860
- Role of John J. Crittenden
- Defeat in Congress
- Efforts to Revive The Crittenden Compromise
- Legacy of The Crittenden Compromise
- Sources
The issue of enslavement had been dividing Americans since the founding of the nation when the passage of the Constitution required compromises recognizing the legal enslavement of human beings. In the decade preceding the Civil War, enslavement became the central political issue in America. The Compromise of 1850 had been intended to satisfy conce...
As the threats of pro-slavery states to leave the Union began to sound quite serious following Lincoln's election, northerners reacted with surprise and increasing concern. In the South, motivated activists, dubbed Fire Eaters, stoked outrage and encouraged secession. An elderly senator from Kentucky, John J. Crittenden, stepped up to try to broker...
When it appeared obvious that Crittenden couldn't get his legislation through Congress, he proposed an alternative plan: the proposals would be submitted to the voting public as a referendum. The Republican president-elect, Abraham Lincoln, who was still in Springfield, Illinois, had indicated that he did not approve of Crittenden's plan. When legi...
Oddly enough, a month after Crittenden's effort came to an end on Capitol Hill, there were still efforts to revive it. The New York Herald, the influential newspaper published by the eccentric James Gordon Bennett, published an editorial urging a revival of the Crittenden Compromise. The editorial urged the unlikely prospect that president-elect Li...
Senator John J. Crittenden died on July 26, 1863, in the middle of the Civil War. He never lived to see the Union restored, and his plan, of course, was never enacted. When General George McClellan ran for president in 1864, on a platform of essentially ending the war, there was the occasional talk of proposing a peace plan that would resemble the ...
"Crittenden Compromise." American Eras: Primary Sources, edited by Rebecca Parks, vol. 2: Civil War and Reconstruction, 1860-1877, Gale, 2013, pp. 248-252."Crittenden, John Jordan." Gale Encyclopedia of American Law, edited by Donna Batten, 3rd ed., vol. 3, Gale, 2010, pp. 313-316."The Crittenden Peace Oak," New York Times, 13 May 1928, p. 80."Obituary. Hon. John J. Crittenden, of Kentucky." New York Times, 28 July 1863, p. 1.Crittenden argued that any successful proposal had to go beyond legislative action to offer a more permanent solution, so he proposed a collection of constitutional amendments. At the heart of the plan was an amendment to extend to the Pacific the line drawn by the 1820 Missouri Compromise , prohibiting slavery north of the 36°30' parallel—a line made defunct by the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act.
John J. Crittenden. Crittenden Compromise, (1860–61), in U.S. history, series of measures intended to forestall the American Civil War, futilely proposed in Congress by Senator John J. Crittenden of Kentucky in December 1860. He envisioned six constitutional amendments by which the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was, in effect, to be reenacted ...
People also ask
Why did Crittenden resign?
Why did John Crittenden leave the Senate?
Who was John Crittenden?
How did Crittenden Compromise work?
What if the Crittenden Compromise had succeeded?
Why did Crittenden's Plan fail?
John Jordan Crittenden (September 10, 1787 – July 26, 1863) was an American statesman and politician from the U.S. state of Kentucky. He represented the state in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and twice served as United States Attorney General in the administrations of William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, and Millard ...
