Editing Crittenden–Johnson Resolution

{{Short description|1861 U.S. Congress resolution}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2018}}
'''The Crittenden–Johnson Resolution''' (also known as the '''Crittenden Resolution''' and the '''War Aims Resolution''') was proposed in the [[United States Congress]] early in the [[American Civil War]], as a conciliatory message to the slave states assuring them that the Northern war effort was not aimed at interfering with their rights to slavery, but solely towards restoring the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]]. It was passed almost unanimously in July of 1861 after the shocking defeat at the [[First Battle of Bull Run]]. It was later rejected in December of that year during an attempt to reaffirm the resolution by congress.

The resolution is sometimes confused with the "[[Crittenden Compromise]]," a series of unsuccessful proposals to amend the [[United States Constitution]] that were debated after slave states began seceding, in an attempt to prevent the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate States]] from leaving the Union. Both measures are sometimes confused with the [[Corwin Amendment]], a proposal to amend the Constitution that was adopted by the [[36th Congress]],<ref name=Corwin>{{cite web|title=United States Statutes at Large|url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=012/llsl012.db&recNum=282 | author = 36th Cong. 2d Sess. (1861)|publisher=Library of Congress|page=251 (bottom)}}</ref> which attempted to put slavery and other states' rights under constitutional protection; it passed Congress but was not ratified by the states.

==Historical background==
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The Crittenden–Johnson Resolution was passed almost unanimously by the [[37th United States Congress]] on July 25, 1861.<ref name=Senate-Journal>{{cite journal|
url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsj&fileName=053/llsj053.db&recNum=90&itemLink=r?ammem/hlaw:@field%28DOCID+@lit%28sj05321%29%29%230530091&linkText=1 | pages=91–92|journal=Journal of the Senate|date=July 25, 1861|access-date=June 3, 2013|publisher=Library of Congress|title=37th Congress of the United States}}</ref> The bill was introduced as the War Aims Resolution, but it became better known for its sponsors Representative [[John J. Crittenden]] of [[Kentucky]] and Senator [[Andrew Johnson]] of [[Tennessee]], both slaveholders. The [[American Civil War]] had begun on April 12, 1861, with various Southern states seceding in the following months. Both houses of Congress passed this resolution days after the [[First Battle of Bull Run]] made it clear that the war would not end quickly. It passed almost unanimously in July, but later that December, congress made an attempt to reaffirm the Crittenden–Johnson Resolution. This was an effort to maintain the initial promise of non-interference with slavery in both contended and rebellious states. However it was instead rejected during this session by a party vote motioned by [[Thaddeus Stevens]].<ref name=Woodburn>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/lifethaddeusste01woodgoog | last=Woodburn | first = James Albert | title = The Life of Thaddeus Stevens: A Study in American Political History | pages = [https://archive.org/details/lifethaddeusste01woodgoog/page/n194 172]–173 |year= 1913 | publisher = Bobbs-Merrill}}</ref>

[[President of the United States|President]] [[Abraham Lincoln]] was concerned that the [[slavery|slave]] states of [[Missouri]], [[Kentucky]], and [[Maryland]] in the crucial upper south might leave the Union to join the [[Confederate States of America]]. If Maryland were lost, [[Washington, D.C.]] would be entirely surrounded by Confederate territory.  Both Missouri and Kentucky were slave states of questionable loyalty to the Union that bordered on important Union territory; Lincoln was born in Kentucky and losing his birth state would be seen as a political failure. Also, the [[Ohio River]] marks Kentucky's northern border and was strategically important as the economic lifeline of Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana--each of which shipped goods down this river to the Mississippi River for sale or further shipment in [[New Orleans, Louisiana]]. Delaware (the other slave state that remained in the Union) had so few slaves that its loyalty would not be questioned.

==Meaning and context==

Introduced as the '''War Aims Resolution''', the bill defined limited conservative goals for the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] effort during the Civil War. Although it made no mention of slavery, the resolution intended that the Union Government would take no actions against the [[peculiar institution]] of slavery.<ref name=Johnsonbio>{{cite book|author=Glenna R. Schroeder-Lein and Richard Zuczek|title=Andrew Johnson: A Biographical Companion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_n9akv4qj98C&pg=PA70|year=2001|publisher=ABC-CLIO|page=70|isbn=9781576070307}}</ref> Its second clause, discussed below, stated the war was fought not for ''"overthrowing or interfering with the rights or established institutions of those States,"'' but to ''"defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution and to preserve the Union."'' The resolution intended to retain the loyalty of Unionists in the slave-holding border states, as well as reassure Northerners who would fight to save the Union but not to free the slaves.<ref name=Routledge>{{cite book|author=John D Wright|title=The Routledge Encyclopedia of Civil War Era Biographies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V_wpKWzSmvUC&pg=PA132|year=2012|publisher=Routledge|page=132|isbn=9780415878036}}</ref> It implied the war would end when the seceding states returned to the Union, with slavery intact.

Pennsylvania Congressman [[Thaddeus Stevens]], an abolitionist, had opposed the bill when it was introduced on the grounds that, in war, Congress and the President had the right to take “any step which would subdue the enemy,” but he abstained from voting on the measure. By the December of 1861, opinion had shifted and during an attempt by congress to reaffirm the resolution Stevens was able to motion a successful party vote for the resolution's rejection.<ref name=Woodburn/>
==Legislative action in the House==

The resolution was introduced on July 19, 1861, as troops massed at [[Manassas Junction, Virginia]], about 25 miles from Washington, two days before the [[First Battle of Bull Run|Battle of Bull Run]]. The House passed it immediately after the battle, when Union forces were routed by the Confederate army, creating intense concern in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] about southern soldiers “in arms around the capital.”<ref name=Routledge/>

The House vote was in two parts, or "branches". The first branch read: "Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States, That the present deplorable civil war has been forced upon the country by the disunionists of the southern States now in revolt against the constitutional government, and in arms around the capital."<ref name=HR-Journal>{{cite journal| url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llhj&fileName=058/llhj058.db&recNum=122&itemLink=r?ammem/hlaw:@field%28DOCID+@lit%28hj05817%29%29%230580124&linkText=1|pages=123–125|journal=Journal of the House of Representatives|date=July 22, 1861|publisher=Library of Congress|title=37th Congress, House of Representatives}}</ref> This branch passed the House 121–2. Two congressmen voted against it, [[Henry C. Burnett]] (Kentucky) and [[John W. Reid]] (Missouri). Both were expelled at the next session of the 37th Congress for taking up arms against the United States.<ref name=Maskell>{{cite journal | url = http://democrats.rules.house.gov/sites/democrats.rules.house.gov/files/documents/Archives/rl31382.pdf | title = Expulsion, Censure, Reprimand, and Fine: Legislative Discipline in the House of Representatives | last = Maskell | first = Jack | date = January 25, 2005 | journal = Congressional Research Service | publisher = Library of Congress | access-date = June 3, 2013 | pages = 8 (footnote 20), 27 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140922152749/http://democrats.rules.house.gov/sites/democrats.rules.house.gov/files/documents/Archives/rl31382.pdf | archive-date = September 22, 2014 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

The second branch read: "That in this national emergency, Congress, banishing all feelings of mere passion or resentment, will recollect only its duty to the whole country; that this war is not waged on their part in any spirit of oppression, or for any purpose of conquest or subjugation, or purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or established institutions of those States, but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution, and to preserve the Union with all the dignity, equality, and rights of the several States unimpaired; and that as soon as these objects are accomplished the war ought to cease."<ref name=HR-Journal/> This second branch passed the House 119–2. Two congressmen voted against this branch, [[John F. Potter]] (Wisconsin) and [[Albert G. Riddle]] (Ohio).

The House passed the complete measure on July 22, 1861, immediately after the battle.<ref name=HR-Journal/>

==Senate action==

On July 25, 1861, the Senate rejected the two branch division, and passed the entire resolution 30–5.<ref name=Senate-Journal/>  The five senators voting against the resolution were: [[John C. Breckinridge]] (Kentucky), [[Waldo P. Johnson]] (Missouri), [[Trusten Polk]] (Missouri), [[Lazarus W. Powell]] (Kentucky), and [[Lyman Trumbull]] (Illinois). Breckinridge, Johnson, and Polk were expelled from the Senate at the next session of the 37th Congress for supporting the Confederate rebellion.<ref name=Senate-hist>{{cite web|title=Briefing on Expulsion and Censure|publisher=United States Senate|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Expulsion_Censure.htm}}</ref> A motion was brought to expel Powell, but was defeated, in part due to a defense given by Illinois Senator Trumbull.<ref name=Senate-Powell>{{cite web|title=The Expulsion Case of Lazarus W. Powell of Kentucky (1862)|publisher=United States Senate|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/expulsion_cases/042LazarusPowell_expulsion.htm}}</ref>

==References==
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[[Category:Secession crisis of 1860–61]]
[[Category:1861 documents]]