Attempts at Compromise

By lucystowe1

  • The Constitution

    The Constitution made it so Congress couldn't outlaw the Atlantic slave trade for the next twenty years. It counted slaves as three-fifths of the population. It also gave the federal government the power to put down rebellions involving slaves. The cause of compromising was so the framers would have support from the south and would have a strong central government. One of the effects was through the three-fifths clause, and it gave the south more representation in the House of Representatives.

  • Missouri Compromise

    This compromise drew an imaginary line along the 36th parallel, making states above the line free states, and states below it slave states. The cause of this compromise was to have an even amount of free and slave states in the Union and prevent fighting. The effect of this compromise was that it temporarily ended the slave debate.

  • Compromise of 1850

    This act consisted of five parts that include calling for the admission of California to the Union as a free state, establishing the boundary between Texas and the US, diving the Mexican cession into Utah and New Mexico, and abolishing slavery in D.C. The cause of this was to preserve the balance between the north and south as well as maintaining peace between them. The effect of it was temporary unity but the nation slowly became more divided over slavery.

  • Kansas-Nebraska Act

    It repealed the Missouri Compromise and created two more territories, Kansas and Nebraska. It allowed popular sovereignty to decide whether the new territories would be slave or free states and came with violent uprisings called "Bleeding Kansas". The cause of this compromise was disputes on whether the new territory would be a free or slave state and the effect of it was the violent uprisings in Kansas that was one of the reasons that started the Civil War.

  • Crittenden Compromise

    An unsuccessful attempt at permanently forbidding the abolishment of slavery in the Constitution and making it impossible for Congress to end it. The cause of this compromise was the looming threat of war as southern senators began planning for secession. The effect of this was that it sanctioned the continuation of slavery in the south but also preserved the Union.