One month after the election of Abraham Lincoln, political leaders across Washington search frantically for a compromise to his promised ban on slavery in the west which threatens to drive the South out of the Union. 

In the Senate, where Democrats still control 38 of the 66 seats, Kentucky’s Lazarus Powell calls for a “Committee of Thirteen” to arrive at an option. The members comprise leaders from all parties and include 7 Democrats, 5 Republicans, and 1 Constitutional Unionist, the former Whig, John J. Crittenden, also of Kentucky. 

Members of the Senate’s “Committee of Thirteen” in December 1860

Name	Home State	Party	Slaves	During the War
William Bigler	Pennsylvania	Northern Democrat	No	Retires from politics
Jefferson Davis	Mississippi	Southern Democrat	Yes	President – CSA
Stephen Douglas	Illinois	Northern Democrat	Yes	Dies in June 1861
Robert M. T. Hunter	Virginia	Southern Democrat	Yes	2nd CSA Sec of State
Lazarus Powell	Kentucky	Southern Democrat	Yes	Remains Kentucky Senator
Henry Rice	Minnesota	Northern Democrat	No	Remains Vermont Senator
Robert Toombs	Georgia	Southern Democrat	Yes	1st  CSA Sec of State, General
Jacob Collamer	Vermont	Republican	No	Remains Vermont Senator
James Rood Doolittle	Wisconsin	Republican	No	Remains Wisconsin Senator
James Grimes	Iowa	Republican	No	Remains Iowa Senator
William Seward	New York	Republican	No	U.S. Sec of State
Benjamin Wade	Ohio	Republican	No	Remains Ohio Senator
John J. Crittenden	Kentucky	Constitutional Union	Yes	Joins U.S. House til ’63 death

The Committee meets six times in total, with the second session on December 22 setting the stage for the outcomes to follow. 

Session	Date	Focus
1	December 21	First informal discussions among aa few members
2	December 22	Proposals submitted by Toombs, Crittenden and Davis
3	December 24	Douglas and Seward submit proposed Amendments to the Constitution to solve the conflict and reactions to the prior ideas are discussed.
4	December 26	Toombs proposal is debated further and Bigler offers his alternative
5	December 28	The Douglas plan is discussed but no resolution is reached
6	December 31	The Committee proceedings are approved and sent to the Senate

The fate of the Committee is determined almost immediately after Jefferson Davis demands that any final agreement must gain a majority of the votes across both party contingents, i.e. at least 4 of the 7 Democrats and 3 of the 5 Republicans –almost a certain impossibility. 

The actual proposals that follow are already familiar to both sides. 

Davis stakes out the hardline Southern call for a formal Amendment to the Constitution sanctioning slavery: 

     Resolved, That it shall be declared, by amendment of the Constitution, that property

     in slaves, recognized as such by the local law of any of the States of the Union, shall 

     stand on the same footing in all constitutional and federal relations as any other species

     of property so recognized; and, like other property, shall not be subject to be divested or   

     impaired by the local law of any other State, either in escape thereto or of transit or

     sojourn of the owner therein; and in no case whatever shall such property be subject

     to be divested or impaired by any legislative act of the United States, or of any of the   

    Territories thereof.

The more moderate Toombs falls back on motions outlined in his 1850 Georgia Platform which mirror Davis except for requiring only “clauses” to the Constitution not an Amendment.

Stephen Douglas, who has lost the election to Lincoln, simply repeats his call for “popular sovereignty” with each new Territory holding elections once 50,000 white resident are present to decide on a “Slave State of Free State” declaration. 

The voice of the Republicans belongs to Seward, about to be Secretary of State, whose only assurance is that the new government will not tamper with slavery in the states where it already exists. 

Only one compromise continues to generate interest. It belongs to the venerable Unionist John Crittenden who calls for extending the 1820 Missouri Compromise boundary line at 36’30” latitude all the way across the west to the pacific. This would extend slavery into Oklahoma, Texas, the New Mexico Territory and southern California – all with climates well suited to support cotton plantations.   

While the Crittenden Compromise makes sense to many, it remains insufficient for the Southern members, and the Committee of Thirteen submits its final journal of proceeding on December 31 absent any proposed agreements. Nine days later, Mississippi becomes the second state to secede, following South Carolina.