Object Details
- Artist
- George Peter Alexander Healy, 15 Jul 1813 - 24 Jun 1894
- Sitter
- John Jordan Crittenden, 10 Sep 1787 - 26 Jul 1863
- 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.
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Mr. and Mrs. Silas B. McKinley
- 1857
- Object number
- NPG.64.1
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- 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")
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Exhibition
- 2022 Rehang of Out of Many: Portraits from 1600 to 1900
- On View
- NPG, East Gallery 110a
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Costume\Dress Accessory\Stock
- Equipment\Chain
- John Jordan Crittenden: Male
- John Jordan Crittenden: Law and Law Enforcement\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
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.64.1
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4d38948f0-b8b2-4dc5-9c78-41fd6d9e42d5
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