What Was the Crittenden Compromise, Why Was It Written, and Why Did It Fail? The Crittenden Compromise 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 main cause of secession), and how Congress should handle it. Northern abolitionists wanted an end to slavery; however, southerners were opposed …showed first 75 words of 1808 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1808 total…on the events that followed (disunion and civil war for the most part). Since the United States needed a compromise, not necessarily Crittenden's, then the outcome would likely have been much the same had the plan been written by someone else (and still rejected). The collective effects of Lincoln's disapproval, the disapproval from other Senators, the negative newspaper articles, and the feelings of criticism and indifference, all contributed to the nonsuccess of the Crittenden Compromise.