To Save The Union

The United States Congress unanimously passed a resolution on February 11th 1861, guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state.

The Thirty-sixth United State Congress were seated during the last two years of the James Buchanan’s presidency. The House had a Republican plurality and the Senate a Democratic majority. Even though there was a strong abolitionist movement in the Northern states, most politicians felt that the country's highest priority was to save the Union, not to put an end to slavery. With a goal of holding the Union together, and keeping the remaining eight slave state loyal to the Union, the United States House of Representatives unanimously approved a resolution promising no interference with slavery in any state in the Union on February 11th 1861.