<Li> That the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 should be amended (and rendered less objectionable to the North) by equalizing the fee schedule for returning or releasing alleged fugitives and limiting the powers of marshals to summon citizens to aid in their capture . </Li> <Li> That laws for the suppression of the African slave trade should be effectively and thoroughly executed . </Li> <P> Both the House of Representatives and the Senate rejected Crittenden's proposal . It was part of a series of last - ditch efforts to provide the Southern states with sufficient reassurances to forestall their secession during the final session of Congress prior to the Lincoln administration taking office . </P> <P> The Crittenden proposals were also discussed at the Peace Conference of 1861, a meeting of more than 100 of the nation's leading politicians, held February 8 - 27, 1861, in Washington, D.C. The conference, led by former President John Tyler, was the final formal effort of the states to avert the start of war . There too, the Compromise proposals failed, as the provision guaranteeing slave ownership throughout all Western territories and future acquisitions again proved unpalatable . </P>

The crittenden compromise proposed amending the constitution to allow slavery south of the