No. 13 · The Presidents
Millard Fillmore
1850-1853
Always the political pragmatist, Millard Fillmore took office after the death of his predecessor, Zachary Taylor, and quickly ushered in the Compromise of 1850. As its name implies, the goal of the act was to settle the slave controversy through concession. However, the Fugitive Slave Act contained in the bill, which provided the federal government with legal claim to send runaway slaves back to their southern masters, did nothing of the sort and only stoked flames on the fire of secession.
Lyrics
Bm, A, G, D
let's have a compromise
just ignore those cries you hear
it's nothing at all
just the sound of freedom giving way to fear
let's have a compromise
just ignore those cries
runaway slave, you gotta come back now
it's a lose-lose, not a win-win-win
which we all know would be the best
but if we all give a little
we can all be miserable
I can see that you're impressed
Millard Fillmore is my name
There's a reason you've never heard of me before
From the book, published 2009 · song & page updated
Let's have a compromise