Part 33 (1/2)

FORMATION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.

The enforcement of the fugitive slave law was resisted in the North and numerous conflicts took place. During the attempted arrest of Anthony Burns in Boston a deputy-sheriff was shot dead, and Federal troops from Rhode Island had to be summoned before Burns could be returned to slavery. Former political opponents began uniting in both sections. In the North the opponents of slavery, comprising Democrats, Free-Soilers, Know Nothings, Whigs, and Abolitionists, joined in the formation of the ”Anti-Nebraska Men,” and under that name they elected, in 1854, a majority of the House of Representatives for the next Congress. Soon after the election, the new organization took the name of Republicans, by which they are known to-day. Its members, with a few exceptions among the Germans in Missouri and the Ohio settlers in western Virginia, belonged wholly to the North.

CIVIL WAR IN KANSAS.

Kansas became for the time the battle-ground between slavery and freedom. Societies in the North sent emigrants into Kansas, first furnis.h.i.+ng them with Bibles and rifles, while the pro-slavery men swarmed thither from Missouri, and the two parties fought each other like Apache Indians. In the midst of the civil war, a territorial legislature was formed, and in many instances the majority of the candidates elected was double that of the voting population in the district. Governor A.H. Reeder, of Pennsylvania, had been appointed governor of the Territory, and, finding himself powerless to check the anarchy, went to Was.h.i.+ngton in April, 1855, to consult with the government. While there he was nominated for Congress, and defeated by the fraudulent votes of the pro-slavery men.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HENRY WARD BEECHER.

The Great Pulpit Orator and Anti-Slavery Agitator.]

Meanwhile, two State governments had been formed. The pro-slavery men met at Lecompton, in March, and adopted a Const.i.tution permitting slavery. Their opponents a.s.sembled in Lawrence, August 15th, and elected delegates, who came together in October and ratified the Topeka Const.i.tution, which forbade slavery. In January, 1856, the people held an election under this Const.i.tution. In the same month President Pierce sent a message to Congress, in which he declared the formation of a free State government in Kansas an act of rebellion, while that adopted at Lecompton was the valid government. Governor Reeder was superseded by William Shannon. A committee sent by Congress into the Territory to investigate and report could not agree, and nothing came of it.

The civil war grew worse. A free State government, with General Joseph Lane as its head and supported by a well-armed force, was formed at Lawrence. The town was sacked and almost destroyed, May 20, 1856. On the 4th of July following, the free State Legislature was dispersed by Federal troops, upon order of the national government.

John W. Geary now tried his hand as governor. His first step was to call upon both parties to disarm, and neither paid any attention to him. Finding he could not have the support of the President in the vigorous policy he wished to adopt, Governor Geary resigned and was succeeded by Robert J. Walker of Mississippi. He showed a disposition to be fair to all concerned, but, before he could accomplish anything, he was turned out to make room for J.W. Denver. He was soon disgusted and gave way to Samuel Medary. Before long, it became evident that the influx of northern settlers must overcome the pro-slavery men, and the struggle was given up by the latter. A const.i.tution prohibiting slavery was ratified in 1859 and Charles Robinson elected governor.

VIOLENT SCENES IN CONGRESS.

Nebraska lies so far north that it was not disturbed. Acts of disgraceful violence took place in Congress, challenges to duels being exchanged, personal collisions occurring on the floor, while most of the members went armed, not knowing what minute they would be a.s.saulted. In May, 1856, Senator Charles Sumner, of Ma.s.sachusetts, for utterances made in debate, was savagely a.s.saulted by Preston S. Brooks, of South Carolina, and received injuries from which he did not recover for several years. Brooks was lionized in the South for his brutal act and re-elected to Congress by an overwhelming majority.

The Republican party was growing rapidly in strength, and in 1856 it placed its candidates in the field and astonished the rest of the country by the vote it rolled up, as shown in the following statistics:

James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, Democrat, 174; John C. Fremont, of California, Republican, 114; Millard Fillmore, of New York, Native American, 8. For Vice-President, John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, Democrat, 174; William L. Dayton, of New Jersey, Republican, 114; A.J.

Donelson, of Tennessee, Native American, 8.

JAMES BUCHANAN.

[Ill.u.s.tration: JAMES BUCHANAN.

(1791-1868.) One term, 1857-1861.]

James Buchanan, fifteenth President, was born in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, April 23, 1791, and graduated from d.i.c.kinson College in 1809. He became a lawyer, was elected to the State Legislature and to Congress in 1821. Thenceforward, he was almost continuously in office.

President Jackson appointed him minister to Russia in 1832, but, soon returning home, he was elected to the United States Senate in 1834. He left that body, in 1845, to become Polk's secretary of State. In 1853, he was appointed minister to England, where he remained until his election to the presidency in 1856. He died at his home in Lancaster, June 1, 1868. The many honors conferred upon Buchanan prove his ability, though he has been often accused of showing timidity during his term of office, which was of the most trying nature. He was the only bachelor among our Presidents.

STATES ADMITTED.

Minnesota was admitted to the Union in 1858. It was a part of the Louisiana purchase. Troubles over the Indian t.i.tles delayed its settlement until 1851, after which its growth was wonderfully rapid.

Oregon was admitted in 1859. The streams of emigration to California overflowed into Oregon, where some of the precious metal was found. It was learned, however, in time that Oregon's most valuable treasure mine was in her wheat, which is exported to all parts of the world. Kansas, of which we have given an account in the preceding pages, was quietly admitted, directly after the seceding Senators abandoned their seats, their votes having kept it out up to that time. The population of the United States in 1860 was 31,443,321. Prosperity prevailed everywhere, and, but for the darkening shadows of civil war, the condition of no people could have been more happy and promising.

THE DRED SCOTT DECISION.

Dred Scott was the negro slave of Dr. Emerson, of Missouri, a surgeon in the United States army. In the discharge of his duty, his owner took him to military posts in Illinois and Minnesota. Scott married a negro woman in Minnesota, and both were sold by Dr. Emerson upon his return to Missouri. The negro brought suit for his freedom on the ground that he had been taken into territory where slavery was forbidden. The case pa.s.sed through the various State courts, and, reaching the United States Supreme Court, that body made its decision in March, 1857.

This decision was to the effect that negro slaves were not citizens, and no means existed by which they could become such; they were simply property like household goods and chattels, and their owner could take them into any State in the Union without forfeiting his owners.h.i.+p in them. It followed also from this important decision that the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the Compromise of 1850 were null and void, since it was beyond the power of the contracting parties to make such agreements. Six of the justices concurred in this decision and two dissented.