Scott, after years of being a general, was quite authoriative, and was an opponent of the spread of slavery, which brought him in conflict with parts of the Continental Party. The Scott Proviso, a bill preventing the spread of slavery into the Mexican territories, was shot down in Congress twice. Scott continued to fall out of favor with the Continentals as he tried to increase executive authority over Congress in order to get the Proviso to pass. Congress attempted to fight back by attempting to compromise with the president, with the proposed Colorado Compromise dividing the territories into equal halves of free states and slave states. Scott rejected the compromise, believing none of the states should be opened to slavery.