Essay On The Crittenden Compromise

What if the American Civil War never happened? It could have if the Crittenden Compromise would have passed. The Crittenden Compromise was one of the last attempts to stop a war from happening in America. The Crittenden Compromise is one cause of the Civil War. It would have allowed the southern states to have slaves, and the northern to not. It also would have allowed the Confederates to maintain their beliefs in slavery being useful and right.

First, the Crittenden Compromise was important to the history of America because it let the south have slaves, and the north to ban them forever. The Crittenden Compromise was written by Senator John J. Crittenden in December, 1860. It had six amendments and it stated that north of 36°30' latitude would not be allowed slaves, but the south would. It was denied from passing Congress by Republicans and Abraham Lincoln. The Republicans denied it because they wanted more areas to have slaves, however Lincoln opposed it because he believed that there should be less area.

Next, the Crittenden Compromise was an important part of American history because it may have prevented fighting over slavery in the future. Amendment two in the Crittenden Compromise says that Congress can not ban
These amendments were written to let all states south of 36°30' latitude to have slaves. However, to have slaves north of the line was illegal. Slavery would be legal in the District of Columbia as long as it was apart of Virginia and Maryland, and/or with the consent from the citizens to ban it. The confederates were fighting for slavery to be in more places, and because most of them lived in the North they disagreed with it. Even though John Crittenden wrote it in hopes of preventing a war, it still wasn't a good enough compromise for both