Jump To
Retrieving full text, please wait
Retrieving full text, please wait
In February 1861, following the inauguration of Lincoln and the secession of seven states from the Union, a convention of 131 politicians from the remaining states met in Washington, D. C., at the Willard Hotel. They aimed to prevent civil war, and the secession of further states, by proposing an amendment to the Constitution that would protect the existence and practice of slavery, within certain parameters, by enshrining them in constitutional law. An amendment was eventually agreed and recommended to Congress, where it was not passed.
You can discover the complete list of documents considered by the negotiation (and find where they were introduced) on:
If you are interested only in the documents as they appeared at the end of the negotiation (with any rejected documents removed), you can use the:
The Peace Conference of 1861
To search the minutes of a particular committee it is easiest to use the committee visualization pages (from here you can further drill down to individual sessions)
You can browse the contributions by delegations to this negotiation using the relevant visualization
You can browse the contributions by individuals to this negotiation using the relevant visualization
