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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 United States Attorney General in the administrations of William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, and Millard Fillmore.
John J. Crittenden (born Sept. 10, 1787, near Versailles, Ky., U.S.—died July 26, 1863, Frankfort, Ky.) was an American statesman best known for the so-called Crittenden Compromise (q.v.), his attempt to resolve sectional differences on the eve of the American Civil War.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- John J. Crittenden, Moderate Democrat and Slaveholder, Authors The Plan
- The 6 Articles of The Crittenden Compromise
- Crittenden Argued It Was A Good Deal For The Republicans
- Lincoln Opposes The Crittenden Compromise
- Crittenden Supports The Union During The Civil War
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The Crittenden Compromise was the creation of John J. Crittenden, a 74-year-old slaveholder and Democratic senator from Kentucky, who emerged with a compromise that he claimed would end the arguments over slavery and avert a Civil War between the North and South. It would also guarantee the existence of slavery in the slave states by preserving it ...
On December 18, 1860, Crittenden proposed six constitutional amendments to the full senate. In the spirit of compromise that had become his forte in a 40-year career in Washington, Crittenden gave his Senate colleagues a civic lessons as he tried to appease their interests. “All the wrong is never one side, or all the right on the other,” he said. ...
According to William J. Cooper, a former Louisiana State University professor and the author of We Have the War Upon Us: The Onset of the Civil War, November 1860-April 1861,Crittenden believed that his plan was a wise policy for the Republicans, who opposed the expansion of slavery. “For Crittenden solving this problem was simple—a compromise, ext...
But there was at least one key Republican who was not buying into the plan. As the President-elect and leader of the Republican Party, Lincoln was the most vocal and influential opponent of the Crittenden Compromise. Before Crittenden had even presented his plan to Congress, Lincoln was already telling fellow Republican Illinois Congressman William...
After the failure of his plan and the start of the Civil War, Crittenden left the Senate and returned to Kentucky in an effort to save Kentucky for the Union. In May 1861, he became the chairman of the Border State Convention, a group of delegates from Kentucky and Missouri who met in Frankfort to ask the Southern states to reconsider their positio...
John J. Crittenden, a moderate Democrat and slaveholder from Kentucky, proposed six constitutional amendments in 1860 to end the sectional crisis and keep slavery in the U.S. Constitution. Abraham Lincoln, the President-elect and leader of the Republicans, opposed the plan and argued that it was not a good deal for the North.
- Farrell Evans
Dec 2, 2009 · Learn about the failed attempt by Kentucky Senator John J. Crittenden to prevent the Civil War by guaranteeing slavery in the South. Find out the details of his six constitutional amendments and four resolutions, and why they were rejected by Republicans and Lincoln.
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As a U.S. senator from Kentucky, John J. Crittenden led an effort to resolve the differences that divided the North and South in the mid-1800s. However, the so-called Crittenden Compromise failed to prevent the American Civil War .
With the threat of Civil War looming on the horizon, Senator John J. Crittenden introduced legislation that would reinstate the Missouri Compromise line, forbid the abolition of slavery on federal land in slaveholding states, compensate owners for runaway slaves, and other amendments to support the institution of slavery.
Crittenden would serve as governor of Kentucky from 1848 to 1850, again as attorney general from 1850 to 1853, and then again in the Senate from 1854 until 1861. He shifted to the House of Representatives in 1861 as a member of the Unionist Party and served there until March 1863.
