The incident came to an end when one of the brawlers grabbed the hair of William Barksdale of Mississippi only to discover that he had pulled off Barksdale's wig. This incident shows how tense Congress was over the issue of slavery in the years immediately proceeding the Civil War. Congress never did solve the issue with debate and it took the Civil War with its terrible toll of lives before this country could begin to deal with the legacy of slavery. As to the most crucial debate, that is a much harder question to answer. I don't think I can single out one debate or one vote in the History of the House because Congress is where so many of the nation's crucial decisions are made.
History is made here everyday.
Certainly the votes on our entry into world war in 1917 and 1941 would have to be on everyone's short list of crucial votes. Sometimes, curiously enough, the most crucial votes are not necessarily the most hotly debated. In 1941 when President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war against Japan following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the vote was almost unanimous. One one person voted against war that day, Congresswoman Jeanette Rankin of Montana, the same person who had cast her vote against war in 1917. We are not sure if this is a question that you can provide a definite answer to but we would sure like your opinions.