Civil War Compromises

In the years leading up to the Civil War there were three major compromises that were passed and one compromise that was drafted but never voted on. The compromises covered are The Missouri Compromise, The Compromise of 1850, and Crittenden’s Compromise; which was never acted upon by congress. These three compromises tried, and failed to, deal with the increasing sectionalism between the north and the south over the issue of slavery from 1820 to 1861. At the time the compromises were written there were overlying reasons in which the compromises were necessary. The expansion of the country and introduction of new territories and states resulted in congressional conflicts between North and South that would attempt the balancing of pro and free-states
within the country, resulting in increased sectionalism and sectional tension.
There were many things that were supposedly ‘solved’ by these compromises, but the biggest problem that occurred in every single compromise was the addition of territory or states and the attempted even introduction of both free and slave land into the country. The Missouri Compromise was intentionally ALL about slavery, this compromise admitted both Maine and Missouri into the union, allowing Maine in as a free state, and Missouri as a slave state. The compromise also attempted to help solve the ‘slave vs. free state’ debate for the future but outlawing slavery above the 36º 30´ latitude line, not including Missouri. The reason why this compromise was created was because of the equal number of slave and free states represented in the Senate. Now normally this wouldn’t have been a problem, except in the beginning the only state that wanted to be added to the country was Missouri, as a slave state. This single introduction into the union would have upset the balance of pro-and-anti-slavery in the Senate, hence the Missouri Compromise. This compromise helped keep the balance of free and slave states in the Senate, but only for a short amount of time.
The Compromise of 1850 was also strictly slavery based.
This compromise allowed California to be added to the country as a free state, and let the newly obtained territories of New Mexico and Utah decide, by popular sovereignty, whether or not they would be free or slave territories. The compromise also solved the problem of the slave trade flowing within the nation's capitol by abolishing it. The final clause in The Compromise of 1850 dealt with the Fugitive Slave Law. At the time before The Compromise of 1850, there was no law requiring northern settlers to give escaped slaves back to their southern owners, but after this compromise was passed there WAS a law that requiring northern settlers to give escaped slaves back to their southern owners. This compromise was needed because of the enormous amount of land that the United States bought from Mexico, which was immediately disputed over by the abolitionists and anti-slavery southerners. Most of the territory was based in the south, where under the 36º 30´ latitude line would have been southern slave territory, however the latitude line didn’t extend that far. The 36º 30´ latitude line extended from the eastern coast line to the end of the Arkansas Territory. Now the president at the time was in favor of just extending the 36º 30´ latitude line, however the Southern members of Senate wanted all of the land gained from Mexico. The Compromise of 1850 did lasting damage between the border states along the 36º 30´ latitude
line, for the most part because of the revamped Fugitive Slave Law. The Fugitive Slave Law drew an even more distinct line between people both pro and anti-slavery.
This compromise had all good intentions as the Civil War was starting to creep up on the country. This compromise would have been an amendment that would have guaranteed slavery south of the 36° 30´ latitude for all future territorial gains. This compromise was never voted on because the Republicans rejected it right away. The reason why this compromise was even drafted was because of the succession of the south from the union over the issue of slave or free territories. Now the south had threatened to secede because of issues like that more than once, so not everyone took them seriously. However once Abraham Lincoln had a fair chance of gaining the presidency, the South took action. Sectionalism grew immensely, not only creating a culture divide, but a economic divide as well. When the south seceded from the union they took a turn for the worst. Their constitution was for a confederacy, which is what they became, and gave most, if not all, of the power to the states government. Now Crittenden’s Compromise, had it been voted on, would have given the South an excuse to come back into the United States without the residents of the U.S. batting an eye, or getting mad at them for it. The compromise was basically a way for the South to undo what it had tried to do, and to avoid a civil war, which obviously did not happen. The South’s determination to prove their point caused the once unified country to go to war with itself.
These compromises were all necessary for two reasons: slaves and land.
As time when on the causes for these compromises stayed the same, but the effect that they had on the country became divided. The compromises constantly forced senators into conventions to ‘solve the problem’ of a divided country over slavery, but that act in itself was impossible. These conventions proved that the two sections of the country were just too different, causing mounting amounts of sectionalism and tension between the North and South, and that there was just no middle ground between slavery and no slavery. There was no compromise that the delegates could have come up with that would have solved the country’s
problem.