Crittenden Compromise

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by the Missouri Compromise in 1820. This compromise said that Maine would be admitted to the Union as a free state as long as Missouri would be admitted as a slave state, and that the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase north of this line would be free, and south of it would be slave. The restoration of this line for the remaining territories, and also guaranteeing the protection of slavery south of this line were major components of the Crittenden Plan.
South Carolina was perhaps the most aggressive in their efforts for secession. They held strong beliefs that the North was deliberately trying to hurt Southern business and at the same time violating the laws of the Constitution. South Carolinians felt a number of states including Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Illinois (among others) were enacting laws that either negated acts of Congress or rendered attempts at executing them useless. The constitutional article in question is Article 4, which ...

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constitutional amendments (also called Articles), the first of which called for the extension of the Missouri Compromise (36°30') line to the Pacific Ocean so that it would include all territories then part of the United States or "hereafter acquired." All land north of the line would be considered free and all land south would be slave; also, any land later acquired south of the line would be up to the territory to decide. This measure was designed to try and balance the number of free and slave states in the Union.
The second article in the proposal called for the stripping of any Congressional power to abolish slavery. It stated, "Congress shall have no power to abolish slavery in ...

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