In 1861, a desperate US House resolution tried to prevent war by protecting slavery
On the brink of the American Civil War in 1861, the House of Representatives passed a startling resolution intended to preserve the Union by permanently protecting the institution of slavery.
In a frantic final attempt to avoid a bloody conflict, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution in 1861 stating the federal government had no right to interfere with slavery in any state. This move was a desperate olive branch to Southern states that were already beginning to secede.
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