Crittenden Compromise

/krit"n deuhn/, U.S. Hist.

a series of constitutional amendments proposed in Congress in 1860 to serve as a compromise between proslavery and antislavery factions, one of which would have permitted slavery in the territories south but not north of latitude 36°30'N. Also called Crittenden Plan.

[named after its proponent, John J. Crittenden (1787-1863), U.S. Senator from Kentucky]

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Series of compromises in 1860–61 intended to forestall the American Civil War.

Sen. John J. Crittenden proposed constitutional amendments that would reenact provisions of the Missouri Compromise and extend them to the western territories, indemnify owners of fugitive slaves whose return was prevented by antislavery elements in the North, allow a form of popular sovereignty in the territories, and protect slavery in the District of Columbia. The plan was rejected by president-elect Abraham Lincoln and narrowly defeated in the Senate.

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▪ United States history

      (1860–61), in U.S. history, series of measures intended to forestall the American Civil War, futilely proposed in Congress by Senator John J. Crittenden (Crittenden, John J.) of Kentucky in December 1860. He envisioned six constitutional amendments by which the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was, in effect, to be reenacted and, more important, to be extended to the Pacific; the federal government was to indemnify owners of fugitive slaves whose return was prevented by antislavery elements in the North; “squatter sovereignty” (the right to decide if slavery should exist or not) in the territories was to be sanctioned; and slavery in the District of Columbia was to be protected from congressional action. On March 2, 1861, Crittenden's plan was narrowly defeated in the Senate. Two months earlier, Crittenden had introduced a resolution calling for a national referendum on these proposals, but the Senate never acted on this resolution.

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