A delegate to the 1852 Democratic National Convention at Baltimore , Maryland , Phillips gave a speech in support of Franklin Pierce who received the nomination . In 1852 , Phillips was elected as U.S. Representative from Alabama 's 1st congressional district to the 33rd U.S. Congress . There he was closely associated with Stephen A. Douglas and largely responsible for the final language of the portion of the notorious Kansas-Nebraska Act that specified that the Missouri Compromise of 1820 be " inoperative and void " for Kansas and Nebraska , but not technically repealed . In his memoirs Phillips recognized that this action probably " hastened the crises of 1861 . " Phillips declined reelection to U.S. House , but remained at Washington , and continued his legal practice there . When the Civil War began he , being a Unionist , attempted to remain . However , his wife , Eugenia , was quite obviously a Southern sympathizer , and allegedly a Confederate spy . In August 1861 , U.S. soldiers entered his house , confiscated his papers , arrested his wife and older daughters , and imprisoned them at the home of Mrs. Rose Greenhow . Fortunately , he had previously secured the friendship of Edwin M. Stanton , later Secretary of War , who , aided by other prominent Union leaders , arranged for their parole and transportation to the South . After a harrowing trip and a supposed delivery of information to President Jefferson Davis and other Confederate leaders in Richmond , Virginia , they passed on to Savannah , Georgia and ultimately to the expected safety of New Orleans , Louisiana
1852 Democratic National Convention
1852 Democratic National Convention
Philip Phillips (lawyer)