ÆäÀÌÁö À̹ÌÁö
PDF
ePub

CHAPTER

the admission of Kansas. A Congressional committee ap-
pointed. Brooks assaults Sumner in the Senate. Southern
companies organized for Kansas. Convention of free State
leagues at Cleveland. "Beecher's Bibles." Judicial en-
dorsement of pro-slavery legislature. Reeder and other free
State leaders indicted. Lawrence sacked by the pro-slavery
forces. John Brown. His arrival in Kansas. Massacre
at Ossawatomie. Pro-slavery efforts to arrest northern im-
migration. "Lane's Northern Army emigrant company.
Brown visits East for aid. Topeka legislature meets.

XIV BUCHANAN'S ADMINISTRATION.

PAGES

His address. The Cabinet. The Dred Scott decision.

effect upon sectional sentiment. The factions in Kansas.

Governor Shannon resigns. Atchison raids Ossawatomie.

Lane moves against Lecompton. Harvey's raid on Slough

Creek pro-slavery camp. Geary appointed governor. He tries

to secure peace. Efforts at judiciary reform. His compromise

with the free State governor. The governor and the Terri-

torial legislature at odds. The governor resigns. Walker the

new appointee. Free State party convention. The Lecomp-

ton convention. Free State men win the fall election. The

governor demands submission of the Lecompton constitution

to the people. The president favors the Lecompton plan.

Walker resigns governorship. Financial panic. Lecompton

constitution defeated. The president recommends admission

of Kansas as a slave State. The debates thereon. The Senate

accepts the Lecompton constitution. The House favors its sub-

mission. A land bribe offered to Kansas. Bill passed enabling

Kansas to enter the Union under the Lecompton constitution.

The Territory rejects it. Walker's filibustering expedition

to Central America. The Mormons. Their organization and

migrations. Settle at Salt Lake. Establish their government.

The "State of Deseret. Brigham Young appointed Terri-

torial governor. Rebellion. Growth of social and religious

associations. The Smithsonian Institute. Leaders in litera-

ture and science. In theology. The Paulist Order. Later

Arctic expeditions. Wilkes's Antarctic expedition. Immi-

gration into the West. The railroad and national expansion.

Atlantic cable laid.

XV THE IMPENDING CONFLICT.

CHAPTER

courtship with Douglas. His opponent's advantages. Lin-
coln's speech on accepting nomination. Douglas's reply.
Joint debates. Lincoln's "house-divided-against-itself "
speech. The Freeport debates. The "Freeport doctrine"
enounced by Douglas. The contest assumes national mag-
nitude. The Galesburg debate. Douglas elected. Repub-
lican party strengthened. Defeat of the administration in
Pennsylvania. Jefferson Davis gives a warning to the North.
Proposed acquisition of Cuba. The attitude of Spain. Con-
flicts in Philadelphia and Oberlin respecting fugitive slave
arrests. John Brown's enlarged scheme. He reappears in
Kansas. The "Jayhawkers." Attack on Fort Scott.
Brown's raid on a Missouri plantation. A price upon his
head. Issues his "Parallels." Appears in Virginia. Seizes
Harper's Ferry, the armory, and the arsenal. At bay. His
fort taken. Trial and death sentence. Opinions concerning
Brown. The campaign of 1860. The party conventions.
Douglas, Lincoln, and Breckinridge the nominees for the
presidency. The popular vote.

APPENDIX I. .

Fugitive Slave Act, September 18, 1850. APPENDIX II

Treaty with Mexico, December 30, 1853.

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

PAGES

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

THE GROWTH OF THE NATION

1837 TO 1860

From the beginning of Van Buren's administration to the close of that of Buchanan

SIKES KEENER

CHAPTER I

ADMINISTRATION OF VAN BUREN

And

THE election of Martin Van Buren to the presidency in November, 1836, was in no sense epochal, as it inaugurated no new policy and was the precursor of no reforms. yet the election of the eighth president was a transitional event in the history of the country. So closely is his administration linked with that of his predecessor, Andrew Jackson, that the particulars, which otherwise would have been more dwelt upon in estimates of it, and might have been regarded as worthy of marking Van Buren's presidency as a distinct point in the path of national progress, have attached to them but incidental importance. It would have been a misfortune to any man to succeed such a strong personality as Jackson, and to have entered upon the presidency under the shadow of such vigorous policies as he had inaugurated. Van Buren was the legatee of Jackson in matters of policy, but, although he assumed the cloak of the people's prophet, he did not with it inherit a double portion of his spirit. He was handicapped both by circumstances and his personal limitations. Van Buren was the first president who had not been related to the earlier period of national construction. He had been born too late to be a factor in the events prior or related to the adoption of the Federal Constitution, and he had not, like his predecessor, been identified with military events; he had contributed nothing either to the formation or to the defence of the Union. Also, in

« ÀÌÀü°è¼Ó »