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John Jordan Crittenden

John Jordan Crittenden
Artist
George Peter Alexander Healy, 15 Jul 1813 - 24 Jun 1894
Sitter
John Jordan Crittenden, 10 Sep 1787 - 26 Jul 1863
Date
1857
Type
Painting
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Stretcher: 76.2 x 63.5cm (30 x 25")
Frame: 104.1 x 91.4 x 10.2cm (41 x 36 x 4")
Topic
Costume\Dress Accessory\Stock
Equipment\Chain
John Jordan Crittenden: Male
John Jordan Crittenden: Law and Crime\Lawyer
John Jordan Crittenden: Politics and Government\Cabinet member\US Attorney General
John Jordan Crittenden: Politics and Government\US Attorney
John Jordan Crittenden: Politics and Government\US Congressman\Kentucky
John Jordan Crittenden: Politics and Government\Governor\Kentucky
John Jordan Crittenden: Politics and Government\State Attorney General\Illinois
John Jordan Crittenden: Politics and Government\State Legislator\Kentucky
John Jordan Crittenden: Politics and Government\US Senator\Kentucky
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Mr. and Mrs. Silas B. McKinley
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.64.1
Exhibition Label
Born Versailles, Kentucky
In a last-ditch effort to preserve the Union following Abraham Lincoln’s election to the presidency, Kentucky senator John Crittenden proposed legislation in December 1860 that was intended to derail the burgeoning secession movement. His plan called for dividing the United States in half, with slavery prohibited north of a dividing line and permanently guaranteed to its south. The Crittenden Compromise essentially reinstated the Missouri Compromise line (which had been nullified in 1854 by the Kansas-Nebraska Act) and extended it west to California. Most Northern legislators, including President-elect Lincoln, rejected a plan that expanded slavery and made any future abolition legislation unconstitutional.
Crittenden prevented his home state of Kentucky from seceding from the Union with the other Southern states, but the Civil War sowed division in his family. Two of his sons served as major generals in the Civil War: one fighting for the Union, the other for the Confederacy.
Nacido en Versailles, Kentucky
En un último esfuerzo por conservar la Unión tras la elección de Abraham Lincoln a la presidencia, John Crittenden, senador de Kentucky, presentó en diciembre de 1860 un proyecto de ley destinado a descarrilar el movimiento secesionista. Proponía dividir al país en dos áreas; la esclavitud estaría prohibida al norte de la línea divisoria y garantizada permanentemente al sur. En esencia, el Compromiso Crittenden restablecía la línea del Compromiso de Misuri (anulado en 1854 por la Ley de Kansas-Nebraska) y la extendía hasta California. La mayoría de los legisladores norteños, entre ellos el presidente electo Lincoln, rechazaron este plan que expandía la esclavitud y hacía inconstitucional toda legislación abolicionista futura.
Crittenden impidió que su estado natal de Kentucky se separara de la Unión junto con los otros estados sureños, pero la Guerra Civil dividió a su familia. Dos de sus hijos fueron mayores generales en la Guerra Civil, uno con la Unión y el otro con la Confederación.
Provenance
The sitter; his wife, Elizabeth Wilcox Ashley Crittenden [Mrs. John Jordan Crittenden], Frankfort, Kentucky; her grandson Crittenden McKinley; his wife Mrs. Crittenden McKinley, St. Louis, Missouri; her son Silas B. McKinley and his wife Nancy McKinley, St. Louis; gift 1964 to NPG.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Exhibition
Out of Many: Portraits from 1600 to 1900
On View
NPG, East Gallery 110a