The House of Representatives introduces a resolution calling for direct election of senators. From as early as the 1820s, growing conflict between political powers in various state legislatures means that a number of Senate seats go unfilled. For example in Indiana, the conflict between Democrats in the southern half of the state and the emerging Republican Party in the northern half prevents the election of any candidate for more than two years. As regional tensions over slavery and states’ rights increase – leading to the Civil War – these conflicts within state legislatures only worsened.