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The Peace Conference of 1861 was a meeting of 131 leading
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politicians in February 1861, at the
Willard Hotel The Willard InterContinental Washington, commonly known as the Willard Hotel, is a historic luxury Beaux-Arts hotel located at 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Downtown Washington, D.C. It is currently a member of Historic Hotels of America, th ...
in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, on the eve of the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
. The conference's purpose 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 the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
'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 compromise over the issues relating to slavery 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 met. In the House, the Committee of Thirty-Three, with one member from each state, led by
Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
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 2 ...
, 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 Uni ...
, 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 and four resolutions that would guarantee the permanent existence of slavery in the slave states and that Crittenden 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 (also known as the Compromise of 1820) was federal legislation of the United States that balanced the desires of northern states to prevent the expansion of slavery in the country with those of southern states to expand ...
line dividing the territories to the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
, 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 the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
, who had made known his objections. The committee rejected the compromise on December 22 by a 7–6 vote. Crittenden later brought the issue to the floor of the Senate as a proposal to make his compromise subject to a national referendum. Still, the Senate rejected it on January 16 by 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 U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
, Robert H. Hatton of
Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
,
J. Morrison Harris James Morrison Harris (November 20, 1817 – July 16, 1898) was a Representative from the third district of Maryland. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Harris was educated at private institutions in the city. He then entered Lafayette College ...
of
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
, and John T. Harris of Virginia. The House rejected a version of their work on January 7.


Constitutional amendment protecting slavery

In the House, on January 14, the Committee of Thirty-Three reported that it had reached a majority agreement on a constitutional amendment to protect slavery where it existed and the immediate admission of
New Mexico Territory The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of '' Nuevo México'' becomi ...
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 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 of the United States, vice president in 1841. He was elected ...
, now a private citizen of Virginia, had been appointed as a special Virginia envoy to President
James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was the 15th president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. He also served as the United States Secretary of State, secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvan ...
to urge him to maintain the ''status quo'' regarding the seceded states. Later, Tyler was an elected delegate to the Virginia convention called to consider whether or not to follow the
Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion of the Southern United States. The term is used to describe the states which were most economically dependent on Plantation complexes in the Southern United States, plant ...
states out of the Union. Tyler thought a final collective effort should be made to preserve the Union. 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. He agreed to sponsor the convention while the list of attendees to all 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, and Texas) had already passed ordinances of secession, were preparing to form a new government in
Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...
, 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 West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
,
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,
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,
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,
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, or
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. 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 United States House of Representatives, Representative in the United States Congress, as a member of the Democratic Pa ...
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,
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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,
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from Maryland, William P. Fessenden and Lot M. Morrill from
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, James Guthrie and William O. Butler from Kentucky, David S. Reid from
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
, Stephen T. Logan from
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,
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 re ...
from
Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
, 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 and also served as the fourteenth secretary of the treasury and the first secretary of the interior. ...
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 from 1864 to his death in 1873. Chase served as the 23rd governor of Ohio from 1856 to 1860, r ...
from Ohio. Although Louisiana did not send delegates, Rep. John Edward Bouligny, the only member of the state's congressional delegation not to resign his seat, did participate in the conference. 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
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justices, and one former president", and the meeting was frequently referred to derisively as the ''Old Gentleman's Convention''. On February 6, a committee was formed, charged with drafting a proposal for the entire convention to consider. The committee consisted of one representative from each state and was headed by James Guthrie of Kentucky. The 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 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 known ...
. Key sections of this amendment could be further amended only with the unanimous concurrence of all 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 committing 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 Committee of Thirty-Three finally submitted the
Corwin Amendment The Corwin Amendment is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that has never been adopted, but owing to the absence of a ratification deadline, could theoretically still be adopted by the state legislatures. It would have shiel ...
, a less-encompassing constitutional amendment, which Congress passed. The proposed amendment protected slavery where it currently existed, which 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 from Southern Democrats and 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, and Congress was no longer a factor. A final convention of only the slave states in the Union scheduled for June 1861 never occurred because of the events at
Fort Sumter Fort Sumter is a historical Coastal defense and fortification#Sea forts, sea fort located near Charleston, South Carolina. Constructed on an artificial island at the entrance of Charleston Harbor in 1829, the fort was built in response to the W ...
. 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 Allen(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 Washington, D.C. Peace conferences 1861 conferences February 1861 Political conventions in Washington, D.C. 19th-century political conferences 1861 in American politics John Tyler