The Missouri Compromise had endured for a generation, and the architects of the Compromise of 1850 hoped their agreement would have an even longer life. Religious leaders, conservative businessmen, and leading judges called upon citizens to support the compromise to preserve “government and civil society.” Their hopes quickly faded. Demanding freedom for fugitive slaves and free soil in the West, antislavery northerners refused to accept the legitimacy of the compromise. For their part, proslavery southerners plotted to extend slavery into the West, the Caribbean, and Central America. The resulting disputes destroyed the Second Party System and deepened the crisis of the Union.