Who made a valiant effort to avoid war during the South's secession from the Union?

Answer 1

By late December of 1860, the clouds of secession loomed large. Few Americans wanted to have the Union split in two, an independent Southern nation and the remaining United States. Many US statesmen hoped for a compromise to avoid this. Senator John J. Crittenden of Kentucky, a slave state, offered a plan. He was a former Whig and like Henry Clay before him, submitted a plan to the US Senate to avoid a potential secession disaster. Crittenden had a solid national reputation and his plan to the Senate was offered on January 3, 1861. South Carolina had already declared itself to be a seceded state. The Crittenden plan called for a national plebiscite on several amendments to the US Constitution. Of vital importance was the reviving and extension of Missouri Compromise. The previous boundary from that compromise would extend itself to the West coast. prohibiting slavery above that line and providing for slavery below the line. Cross interests between pro-slavery people and abolitionists in the radical wing of the Republican Party resulted in defeat in both the House and the Senate. This despite of many high profile politicians such as William H. Seward. Even pro-abolitionist Horace Greeley of the Republican newspaper The Tribune supported it and believed it would pass Congress.

One huge negative was from the president- elect Abraham Lincoln. He was against it. No one has the ability to see the future. The bottom line was that any policy or amendment can be changed. Lincoln as with all people could not see the disaster ahead of the nation as a whole. If he did, a civil war might have never happened.

Answer 2

John J. Crittenden