This 1861 political cartoon offers a critique of the Crittenden Compromise. This peace plan, offered by Kentucky senator John J. Crittenden, proposed several constitutional amendments designed to avert civil war while allowing for expansion of slavery into western territories. It is represented as a pill from a box of “Constitutional Remedies.” Three men, presumably members of Congress, are depicted using a “Petition of 63,000,” a petition submitted by citizens, to force the pill down the throat of a Republican member holding a piece of paper reading, “Republican Platform: No Compromise,” an allusion to the anti-slavery components of the party’s 1860 political platform.