SECTION V.

CONSTITUTIONAL PERIOD.

PART II.

ADMINISTRATIONS OF BUCHANAN, LINCOLN, AND JOHNSON.

1. WE are now on the eve of the presidential election. The Whig party is no longer in existence. There are three parties, the Democratic, the Re

publican, and the American. The Democrats contend that "wherever slavery finds its way by the people's choice " it ought not to be disturbed. The Republicans, looking upon slavery as an evil and a danger, are not willing to have it go into the Territories. They do not want to have any more slave States. The object of the American party may be inferred from its motto, "Americans shall rule America." The election being over, it is found that the Democrats have chosen James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, though his Republican opponent, John C. Fremont, received nearly as many votes. The inauguration takes place on the 4th of March, 1857.

JAMES BUCHANAN.

1. What is said of political parties in the canvass of 1856? What further can you state of the object of the American party? Ans. It wanted foreigners to live in our country longer before they could become naturalized. What was the result of the election? When and where did we meet Fremont before (p. 277) !

The

Dred Scott
Decision.

2. Two days after the inauguration an important decision comes from the Supreme Court in relation to a slave named Dred Scott. This decision is the opinion of a majority of the judges. Scott is declared to be in law not a person, but a thing. No colored man can become a citizen of the United States, and Congress has no more right to stop the carrying of slaves from one State to another or into a Territory than it has to stop the carrying of horses or any other property. So, in substance, says the decision. Speaking for a majority of the Court, the Chief Justice asserts that when the Constitution was adopted, colored men "had no rights which the white man was bound to respect." This decision, so at variance with the convictions and feelings of the great body of people at the North, comes with startling effect. It sends men into the Republican party, for there and only there, it seems to them, can the stride of slavery be arrested. It unites the Republicans in a more compact body, and makes them more resolute. It is one of the agents working to divide the Democratic party into two factions, and thus making a Republican victory possible in the next presidential election (Note, p. 298, and N. 30, Ap., p. 52).

Brown's Raid.

3. Already the parties are getting ready for that contest. Meanwhile a blow is struck at slavery by John Brown, who, we remember, took part in the fight to make KanJohn sas a free State (§ 141 p. 287). With about twenty men, including two of his sons, Brown crosses the Potomac into Virginia. His object is to make war upon slavery. He wants to free the slaves. At night he enters the village of Harper's Ferry (map 7), and seizes the arsenal there belonging to the general government (October, 1859). His plan is to make the arsenal a rallying place for slaves, with whose help he expects to begin the destruction of slavery. Before the close of the next day the arsenal is sur

2. What was the Dred Scott decision? What was its effect?

3. Give an account of John Brown's raid. Where is Harper's Ferry (map 5)?

rounded by armed men from the Virginia militia and by United States forces. Brown is overpowered, some of his men are killed, and he, wounded, is made a prisoner. His two sons are among the slain. He is tried by the State of Virginia, found guilty on three charges, and hanged (Dec. 2, 1859). Two of his men succeed in making their escape; the rest, six in number, are hanged (§ 17). (Note 26, Ap., p. 50.)

Minnesota.

4. Three States, all free, were admitted to the Union during Buchanan's administration. Minnesota (map 6), the North Star State, was the first (1858). Part of its territory lies east of the Mississippi; the greater part is west. It thus took to itself the last of the Northwest Territory (p. 218), and a part of the Louisiana Purchase (p. 233).

Oregon.

5. The next State was Oregon (map 6). The region west of the Rocky Mountains, between California and British America, now belonging to the United States, was known as the Oregon Region. It was acquired, as we have seen, by discovery (p. 221), exploration (p. 234), settlement (p. 234), and treaty with Spain (p. 262). Though our title to it was without a flaw Great Britain claimed it. The English had made explorations along its coast; and an English fur company had trapped wild animals within its limits, and, by reports, had long contrived to make it appear to the outside world that the territory was not fit for the habitation of man.

6. Though the Indians were hostile, emigrants and missionaries from the United States made their way up the Missouri, and through the mountain passes to the far-off region. Only the strongest and the most persistent succeeded in getting there. Thousands never saw the promised land. They

4. What is said of Minnesota and its territory? Bound the State.

5. What was the Oregon region? Name the four steps that gave us our title to it. State how our claim was opposed. What did the fur company do and say?

6. How was the fur company baffled? How was the dispute with England settled! When did Oregon become a State of the Union? What are its boundaries (map 6) ? How is the rest of the former Oregon region now divided?

fell by the way, and their comrades went on and left them. In 1843, Dr. Whitman conducted a caravan comprising two hundred wagons. Next year there were three thousand white settlers in the valley of the Columbia. In two years more there were twelve thousand, and they effectually decided the question of ownership. In that same year (1846) England gave up her claim to all the territory south of the 49th parallel. The State of Oregon, formed from this region, was admitted in 1859 (§ 64). (Read note 27, Appendix, p. 51.)

7. Next came Kansas (1861). The slavery strife there was at an end (p. 287). All the territory of the State, except the corner south of the Arkansas River (map 6), had been derived from the Louisiana Purchase (p. 233). That corner, of less than eight thousand square miles, was a part of Mexico's cession in 1848 (p. 280).

Kansas.

Secession.

8. The Southern leaders, believing that in the growing strength of the Republican party there was peril to slavery, and, as a consequence, to the power of the South, thought and talked of secession. They declared that in the event of Republican success at the next presidential election, their States would secede, that is, would leave the Union. The threat did not deter the Republicans. It was thought to be mere brag and bluster. The Republican candidate was Abraham Lincoln, "whose early teachers were the silent forest, the prairie, the river, and the stars,” and he was elected (November, 1860).*

9. It was soon seen that the threat of the Southern leaders

*The candidate of the extreme pro-slavery party was John C. Breckenridge, who had been Vice-President under Buchanan. The "Squatter Sovereignty" party nominated Stephen A. Douglas. These two divided the Democratic party. The American party nominated John Bell, of Tennessee, with the simple party platform, "The Union, the Constitution, and the Enforcement of the Laws."

7. What is said of Kansas, its admission, and territory?

8. What threat did the Southern leaders make? Why did they make it? What is said of Lincoln and his election ?

9. Give an account of the first movements toward secession.

was not an idle boast. They were sincere. At once the secession movement began, though Lincoln had nearly four months before him ere he could enter upon the duties to which he had been elected. South Carolina passed the first secession ordinance (December 20, 1860). The example was quickly followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. These seven States then formed a Confederacy. The doctrine of State Rights thus received practical illustration (p. 270). Said a distinguished South Carolinian: "My first duty is to my State." (Read note 28, App., p. 51.)

10. In Fort Moultrie, near one side of the entrance to Charleston harbor, was a garrison of United States troops, about eighty men in all, under the command of Major Anderson. On a little island near the

Fort Sumter.

other side of the entrance stood Fort Sumter in an unfinished

condition. Seeing that preparations were being made to attack him, Anderson transferred his force secretly, at night, to Fort Sumter. There, he thought, his position would be more secure. This act made the people of South Carolina very angry. They demanded

that Anderson should return at once to Fort Moultrie, but he refused. Then their State sent the demand to President Bu

chanan. He also refused, and, after some hesitation and with

10. Where is Fort Moultrie (map 2)? Fort Sumter? Give an account of Anderson's movement, why it was made, and what followed. What great battle took place at Fort Moultrie nearly ninety years before (p. 160)? Describe it.