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What Was the , Why Was It Written, and Why Did It Fail? The was more or less a last ditch effort to avert secession of the Southern states and the likely ensuing civil war. The mid-nineteenth century was a time when many people had their own views of slavery (the ....

Middle of Essay
.... with the election of Abraham Lincoln to Presidency in 1860. A major issue that was being tossed around during compromise talks was the 36°30' line, established by the Missouri Compromise in 1820. This compromise said that Maine would be admitted to the Union as a free state as long as Missouri would be admitted as a slave state, and that the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase north of this line would be free, and south of it would be slave. The restoration of this line for the remaining territories, and also guaranteeing the protection of slavery south of this line were major components of the Crittenden Plan. South Carolina was perhaps the mo ....