Civil War Essay Sample: Crittenden Compromise and Missouri Compromise

Confederates in the Civil War

Americans at their early age are taught that in the year 1965, the Union Army reunified the states by defeating the Confederates in the Civil War. This was important because it ensured an end to the practice of slavery. However, the Americans do not know that in the year 1960s, the southerners had proposed a compromise to the Congress which was aimed at avoiding the succession and future prevention of civil war altogether. The draft by John Crittenden was proposed because of the secession problem, and thus it was believed that amendment could offer a solution to the civil war. It meant that eleven states would have been excluded from being part of the United States of America. Thus, such states in the Southern part would have run their governments and avoid interference from the federal government. The proposed amendments to the constitution were necessary with regards to the slave trade issue. Crittenden's could have solved the issue of slave trade ones and for all.

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The proposition meant that Congress would not be in the position to abolish the slavery state which in order terms was the Southern State where slavery had previously legalized before the debates that brought up the war. Furthermore, Congress could not have been in the position to interfere with interstate slave trade practice, and thus slave's business could be carried out by buying, selling and transporting the slaves across the lines of the state but without any violation of the federal state laws. This was critical because slave trade could have been carried in an organized manner. This was important because it could eventually prevent the civil war from erupting. The Southern part could have carried out the slave trade without the interference from the north or even from the federal government.

Abraham Lincoln and civil war

The Crittenden Compromise and Missouri compromised was rejected because many leaders thought that it was unsustainable. They wanted to ensure the right of slavery in all the states where such a practice existed. Furthermore, many people were passionate about the issue of slavery as many of them depended on the institution of slavery for their livelihoods. Thus, abolishing the slavery practice in the Northern part could deny those who engage in slavery their livelihoods. For example, Abraham Lincoln had a satisfaction with an amendment by Corwin and idea of guaranteeing the continuation of slavery in the states that were previously practicing it. The Republicans were eager in rejecting the bill because they taught that passing it would offer them nothing new but would be like abandoning the benefits that they have been getting from slavery practice.

The civil war was inevitable. It is known that civil war begins a year before Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated. Because slave trade was successful during that period, many leaders engage in the practice. Furthermore, many people were deriving their livelihoods from the practice, and this could eventually provide a ground for breaking out of civil war. Because the Crittenden compromise was to appease the Southern States on the issue of slavery, it meant that there could be a lack of secession of the states which were in the southern part and thus lead to eventual Civil War between the Southerners and the Northerners. Furthermore, the restoration of the boundary line that was drawn in the Missouri Compromise prohibiting the extension of slavery to the Northern part could eventually spark off the civil war.