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The Peace Conference of 1861 was a meeting of 131 leading
American politicians in February 1861, at the
Willard's Hotel in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, on the eve of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
. The purpose of the conference was to avoid, if possible, the secession of the eight slave states, from the upper and border South, that had not done so as of that date. The seven states that had already seceded did not attend.
Background
Before the 1860 election, Republicans were excitedly predicting the end of slavery even in the south.
Republican President
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
's election in 1860 led many in the South to conclude that now was the time for their long-discussed secession. Many pro-slavery southerners, especially in the Lower South, were convinced that the new Republican government was determined to abolish slavery where it already existed.
In much of the South, elections were held to select delegates to special conventions to consider secession from the Union. In Congress, efforts were made in both the House of Representatives and the Senate to reach compromise over the issues relating to slavery that were dividing the nation.
Four proposals to preserve the Union
First Crittenden proposal: six constitutional amendments
In December 1860, the final session of the
Thirty-sixth Congress
The 36th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1859, ...
met. In the House, the
Committee of Thirty-Three, with one member from each state, led by
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
Republican
Thomas Corwin
Thomas Corwin (July 29, 1794 – December 18, 1865), also known as Tom Corwin, The Wagon Boy, and Black Tom was a politician from the state of Ohio. He represented Ohio in both houses of Congress and served as the 15th governor of Ohio and the ...
, was formed to reach a compromise to preserve the Union. In the Senate, former Kentucky
Whig John J. Crittenden
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 Unite ...
, elected as a Unionist candidate, submitted the
Crittenden Compromise
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 Jo ...
, six proposed constitutional amendments that he hoped would address all the outstanding issues. Hopes were high, especially in the
border states, that the
lame duck Congress could reach a successful resolution before the new Republican administration took office.
Crittenden's proposals were debated by a specially-selected Committee of Thirteen. The proposals provided for, among other things, an extension of the
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was a federal legislation of the United States that balanced desires of northern states to prevent expansion of slavery in the country with those of southern states to expand it. It admitted Missouri as a slave state and ...
line dividing the territories to the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...
, bringing his efforts directly in conflict with the 1860 Republican Platform and the personal views of President-elect
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
, who had made known his objections. The compromise was rejected by the committee on December 22 by a vote of 7–6. Crittenden later brought the issue to the floor of the Senate as a proposal to have his compromise made subject to a national referendum, but the Senate rejected it on January 16, by a vote of 25–23.
Second Crittenden proposal
A modified version of the Crittenden Plan, believed to be more attractive to Republicans, was considered by an ''ad hoc'' committee of 14 congressmen from the lower North and the upper South, meeting several times between December 28 and January 4. The committee was chaired again by Crittenden and included other Southern Unionists such as Representatives
John A. Gilmer of
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
,
Robert H. Hatton of
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
,
J. Morrison Harris of
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, and
John T. Harris of Virginia. A version of their work was rejected by the House on January 7.
Constitutional amendment protecting slavery
In the House, on January 14 the Committee of Thirty-Three reported that it had reached majority agreement on a constitutional amendment to protect slavery where it existed, and the immediate admission of
New Mexico Territory as a slave state. This latter proposal would result in a ''de facto'' extension of the Missouri Compromise line for all existing territories.
Proposal from Virginia to hold a peace conference
A fourth attempt came from the state of Virginia, one of the slave states that had not yet seceded. Former President
John Tyler
John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States, serving from 1841 to 1845, after briefly holding office as the tenth vice president in 1841. He was elected vice president on the 1840 Whig tick ...
, a private citizen of Virginia who was still much interested in the fate of the nation, had been appointed as a special Virginia envoy to President
James Buchanan to urge him to maintain the ''status quo'' in regard to the seceded states. Later, Tyler was an elected delegate to the Virginia convention called to consider whether or not to follow the
Deep South states out of the Union. Tyler thought that a final collective effort should be made to preserve the Union and in a document published on January 17, 1861, he called for a convention of the six free and six slave border states to resolve the sectional split. Governor
John Letcher
John Letcher (March 29, 1813January 26, 1884) was an American lawyer, journalist, and politician. He served as a Representative in the United States Congress, was the 34th Governor of Virginia during the American Civil War, and later served in ...
of Virginia had already made a similar request to the state legislature, agreed to sponsor the convention while the list of attendees to all of the states was expanded. Corwin agreed to hold off any final vote on his House plan pending the final actions of the peace conference.
The peace conference
The conference convened on February 4, 1861, at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C.; all seven Deep South states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas) had already passed ordinances of secession, were preparing to form a new government in
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...
, and did not attend the peace conference, not believing it would accomplish anything significant. At the same time that Tyler, selected to head the convention, was making his opening remarks in Washington, his granddaughter was ceremonially hoisting the flag for the Confederate convention in Montgomery. No delegates were sent by the Deep South states or by
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
,
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
,
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, or
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
. Fourteen
free states and seven slave states (Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia) were represented. Among the representatives to the conference were
James A. Seddon
James Alexander Seddon (July 13, 1815 – August 19, 1880) was an American lawyer and politician who served two terms as a Representative in the U.S. Congress, as a member of the Democratic Party. He was appointed Confederate States Secre ...
and
William Cabell Rives
William Cabell Rives (May 4, 1793April 25, 1868) was an American lawyer, planter, politician and diplomat from Virginia. Initially a Jackson Democrat as well as member of the First Families of Virginia, Rives served in the Virginia House of Deleg ...
from Virginia,
David Wilmot
David Wilmot (January 20, 1814 – March 16, 1868) was an American politician and judge. He served as Representative and a Senator for Pennsylvania and as a judge of the Court of Claims. He is best known for being the prime sponsor and epon ...
from Pennsylvania,
Francis Granger
Francis Granger (December 1, 1792 – August 31, 1868) was an American politician who represented Ontario County, New York, in the United States House of Representatives for three non-consecutive terms. He was a leading figure in the state and ...
from New York,
Reverdy Johnson
Reverdy Johnson (May 21, 1796February 10, 1876) was a statesman and jurist from Maryland. He gained fame as a defense attorney, defending notables such as Sandford of the Dred Scott case, Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter at his court-martial, and Mary ...
from Maryland,
William P. Fessenden and
Lot M. Morrill from
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...
,
James Guthrie and
William O. Butler from Kentucky,
Stephen T. Logan from
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
,
Alvan Cullom
Alvan Cullom (September 4, 1797 – July 20, 1877) was an American politician that represented Tennessee's 4th district in the United States House of Representatives.
Biography
Cullom was born in Monticello, Kentucky, on September 4, 1797. He rec ...
from
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
, and
Thomas Ewing
Thomas Ewing Sr. (December 28, 1789October 26, 1871) was a National Republican and Whig politician from Ohio. He served in the U.S. Senate as well as serving as the secretary of the treasury and the first secretary of the interior. He is als ...
and
Salmon P. Chase
Salmon Portland Chase (January 13, 1808May 7, 1873) was an American politician and jurist who served as the sixth chief justice of the United States. He also served as the 23rd governor of Ohio, represented Ohio in the United States Senate, a ...
from Ohio. Many of the delegates came in the belief that they could be successful, but many others, from both sides of the spectrum, came simply as "watchdogs" for their sectional interests. The 131 delegates included "six former cabinet members, nineteen ex-governors, fourteen former senators, fifty former representatives, twelve
state supreme court
In the United States, a state supreme court (known by other names in some states) is the highest court in the state judiciary of a U.S. state. On matters of state law, the judgment of a state supreme court is considered final and binding in b ...
justices, and one former president", and the meeting was frequently referred to derisively as the ''Old Gentleman's Convention''.
On February 6 a committee, charged with drafting a proposal for the entire convention to consider, was formed. The committee consisted of one representative from each state, and was headed by James Guthrie of Kentucky. The entire convention met for three weeks, and its final product was a proposed seven-point constitutional amendment that differed little from the
Crittenden Compromise
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 Jo ...
. The key issue, slavery in the territories, was addressed simply by extending the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific Ocean, with no provision for newly acquired territory. That section passed by a 9–8 vote of the states, each state with one vote.
Other features of the proposed constitutional amendment were the requirement for the acquisition of all future territories to be approved by a majority of both the slave states and the free states, a prohibition on Congress passing any legislation that would affect the status of slavery where it currently existed, a prohibition on state legislatures from passing laws that would restrict the ability of officials to apprehend and return fugitive slaves, a permanent prohibition on the foreign slave trade, and 100% compensation to any master whose fugitive slave was freed by illegal mob action or intimidation of officials required to administer the
Fugitive Slave Act
A fugitive (or runaway) is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from jail, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. A fugitive from justice, also kno ...
. Key sections of this amendment could be further amended only with the unanimous concurrence of all of the states.
Aftermath
Since it did not pledge to limit the expansion of slavery in new territories, the compromise failed to satisfy most Republicans. In not pledging to permit and protect slavery in the territories, the compromise failed to address the issue that had divided the Democratic Party into Northern and Southern factions in the 1860 presidential elections. The convention's work was completed with only a few days left in the final session of Congress. The proposal was rejected in the Senate in a 28–7 vote and never came to a vote in the House. The
Corwin Amendment
The Corwin Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that was never adopted. It would shield "domestic institutions" of the states from the federal constitutional amendment process and from abolition or interference by ...
, a less-encompassing constitutional amendment that was finally submitted by the Committee of Thirty-Three was passed by Congress, but it simply provided protection for slavery where it currently existed, something that Lincoln and most members of both parties already believed was a state right protected by the existing US Constitution. A bill for New Mexico statehood was tabled by a vote of 115–71, with opposition coming from Southern Democrats as well as Republicans.
With the adjournment of Congress and the inauguration of Lincoln as president, the only avenue for compromise involved informal negotiations between Unionist Southerners and representatives of the incoming Republican government: Congress was no longer a factor. A final convention of only the slave states still in the Union scheduled for June 1861 never occurred because of the events at
Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter is a sea fort built on an artificial island protecting Charleston, South Carolina from naval invasion. Its origin dates to the War of 1812 when the British invaded Washington by sea. It was still incomplete in 1861 when the Battle ...
.
Robert H. Hatton, a Unionist from Tennessee who would later change sides, summed up the feelings of many shortly before Congress adjourned:
:We are getting along badly with our work of compromise – badly. We will break, I apprehend, without any thing being done. God will hold some men to a fearful responsibility. My heart is sick.
[Crofts pg. 252]
References
Sources
*Crapol, Edward P. ''John Tyler: The Accidental President''. (2006) .
*Crofts, Daniel W. ''Reluctant Confederates: Upper South Unionists in the Secession Crisis''. (1989) .
*Klein, Maury. ''Days of Defiance: Sumter, Secession, and the Coming of the Civil War''. (1997) .
*Nevins, Alan. ''The Emergence of Lincoln: Prologue to Civil War 1859–1861''. (1950)
*Potter, David M. ''The Impending Crisis 1848–1861''. (1976) .
External links
*Delegate Certificates by John Tyler for 1861 Peace Conference
(1)Charles Allenhttp://www.shapell.org/manuscript.aspx?1861-washington-peace-convention (2) Lucius Eugene Chittenden] Shapell Manuscript Foundation
{{Authority control
Politics of the American Civil War
Secession crisis of 1860–61
Washington, D.C., in the American Civil War
1861 in the United States
Peace conferences
1861 conferences
February 1861 events
Political conventions in Washington, D.C.