1861: The Lost Peace

Historian Winik (1944: FDR and the Year That Changed History) presents a view of the coming U.S. Civil War from the view of elected officials and their efforts to avert the fracture of the country. Among the efforts to avoid the secession of the eight slave states, and inevitable bloodshed, was the Peace Conference held at the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC. Seven states that had already seceded from the Union did not attend the conference. Several proposals were put forth, two from Unionist John J. Crittenden, a constitutional amendment protecting slavery, and a motion from Virginia to hold a peace conference with all parties. Although the Corwin Amendment (which sought to prevent successions by protecting the practice of enslavement in states where it existed) was passed, it was never ratified. Ultimately, no one was pleased with the results of the conference. Whatever attempts at avoiding war were muted as shortly afterward the events of Fort Sumter changed the direction of the republic.