The Legacy of Slavery: Buchanan, Lincoln, and the Most Difficult Presidential Transition
What was likely the most difficult presidential transition in history took place in 1860, after Abraham Lincoln was elected to succeed James Buchanan. It was a time when sectional strife and division rose to such a high level that it split the Democratic Party and caused many to worry that the president-elect would not live to see his inauguration.
In the mid-term of elections of 1858, the newly formed Republican Party won a majority in the House of Representatives. By 1860, the party had full control of Congress. Many in the slave-holding states became frightened by the prospects that this held for the future of the so-called "peculiar institution" of slavery, something they believed they depended on for their economic livelihood. In 1860, incumbent Democratic President James Buchanan, a northerner from Pennsylvania who was viewed as very sympathetic to the slave-holding interests, declined that he would not seek re-election.
In 1860, when the Democratic Party held its nominating convention, the party struggled unsuccessfully to try and unite the Northern and Southern factions within its party who saw the issue of slavery differently. At their National Convention held in Institute Hall in Charleston, South Carolina in April 1860, 51 Southern Democrats walked out over a platform dispute. The extreme pro-slavery Alabama delegation left the hall first, followed by the delegates of Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, three of the four delegates from Arkansas, and one of the three delegates from Delaware. The remaining delegates nominated Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas, a moderate on the issue of slavery, who favored "popular sovereignty" (i.e. the right of each state to decide whether or not it would permit slavery to exist within its boundaries). But this did not occur immediately. By the 57th ballot, Douglas led the balloting, but was still 51.5 votes short of nomination. On May 3, the delegates agreed to adjourn the convention. They reconvened at the Front Street Theater in Baltimore, Maryland, on June 18. After two more ballots, the remaining Democrats nominated Douglas as their presidential candidate.
The Democrats who bolted the convention in Charleston reconvened in Richmond, Virginia on June 11. When the Democrats reconvened in Baltimore, all states returned except South Carolina and Florida. On 18 June, they bolted again, accompanied by nearly all other Southern delegates. This group met immediately in Baltimore's Institute Hall, and nominated Vice President John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky for President.
Another faction of former Whig Party members nominated former Speaker of the House John Bell, under the banner of the Constitutional Union Party. Bell took no position on slavery. His only issue was saving the Union.
When the election was held on November 6, 1860, the newly created Republican Party (founded in 1854) received a majority of the electoral votes. Abraham Lincoln became president, with no real support from the South. Buchanan had supported Breckinridge in the election.
In October, as election day neared, the US army's Commanding General, Winfield Scott, warned Buchanan that Lincoln's election would likely cause at least seven states to secede. He also recommended to Buchanan that massive amounts of federal troops and artillery be deployed to those states to protect federal property. This was not entirely feasible, as Scott also warned that few reinforcements were available. In 1857 Congress refused to heed both men's calls for a stronger militia and the Army had fallen into a poor condition. Buchanan ignored Scott's recommendations.
After Lincoln's election, Buchanan directed his Secretary of War, John B. Floyd, to reinforce southern forts with such provisions, arms and men as were available. Floyd, a southerner from Virginia, convinced Buchanan to revoke the order.
When Lincoln won the election, talk of secession and disunion reached a fever pitch. Buchanan decided to address the issue in his final message to Congress. Unfortunately, he did not address the issue in any helpful manner. In his message, Buchanan said that states had no legal right to secede from the union. But he also said that the federal government could not legally prevent them from doing so. He placed the blame for the crisis on what he described as "intemperate interference of the Northern people with the question of slavery in the Southern States". He said that if these segments in Congress did not repeal what he called their "unconstitutional and obnoxious enactments", the seceding states would be justified in taking offense. Buchanan's suggestion to solve the crisis was a constitutional amendment reaffirming the constitutionality of slavery in the slave states, and calling for popular sovereignty in the territories.
Buchanan's message pleased no one. It was sharply criticized both by the north, for its refusal to stop secession, and the south, for denying its right to secede. Five days after the address was delivered, Treasury Secretary Howell Cobb, from Georgia, resigned from Buchanan's cabinet.
Efforts were made by statesmen such as Sen. John J. Crittenden, Rep. Thomas Corwin, and former president John Tyler to negotiate a compromise to stop secession. Buchanan supported their efforts, but all failed. Efforts to compromise were also made by a group of governors meeting in New York. Buchanan tried to convince President-elect Lincoln to hold a national referendum to resolve the issue of slavery. Lincoln declined the suggestion.
On December 20, 1860, South Carolina declared its secession from the United States. This was followed by six other slave states, and, by February 1861, they had formed the Confederate States of America. The secessionist states declared eminent domain over federal property within their states. Buchanan and his administration took no action to stop the confiscation of government property. All arsenals and forts in the seceding states were lost (except Fort Sumter, off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, and three island outposts in Florida).
Secessionist fervor was strongest in South Carolina. Buchanan made a deal with South Carolina's legislators that he would not reinforce the Charleston garrison in exchange for no interference from the state. But Buchanan did not inform the Charleston commander, Major Robert Anderson, of the deal and on December 26 Anderson moved his command to Fort Sumter. Southerners responded with a demand that Buchanan remove Anderson, while northerners called for support for Anderson. On December 31, Buchanan ordered reinforcements sent to the fort.
On January 5, Buchanan sent civilian steamer Star of the West to carry reinforcements and supplies to Fort Sumter, which was located in Charleston harbor. On January 9, 1861, South Carolina state batteries opened fire on the ship, preventing it from reaching Fort Sumter. It returned to New York. Buchanan was criticized by both north (for lack of retaliation for the attack on the ship) and the south (for attempting to reinforce Fort Sumter). Buchanan made no further moves either to prepare for war or to avert it.
On the way to his inauguration, traveling by train from his home in Springfield, Illinois, Lincoln addressed crowds and legislatures along the way. He evaded possible assassins in Baltimore, who were discovered by Lincoln's head of security, Allan Pinkerton. On February 23, 1861, he arrived in disguise in Washington, D.C.
Lincoln directed remarks in his inaugural address to the South, telling the seceding states that he no intention, or inclination, to abolish slavery in the Southern states. He said:
"Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States that by the accession of a Republican Administration their property and their peace and personal security are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so."
The President ended his address by telling the people of the South:
"We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."
On Buchanan's final day as president, March 4, 1861, he remarked to the incoming Lincoln, "If you are as happy in entering the White House as I shall feel on returning to Wheatland, you are a happy man." Lincoln and the Republican leadership agreed that the dismantling of the Union could not be tolerated. He later said:
"Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the Nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came."
In the mid-term of elections of 1858, the newly formed Republican Party won a majority in the House of Representatives. By 1860, the party had full control of Congress. Many in the slave-holding states became frightened by the prospects that this held for the future of the so-called "peculiar institution" of slavery, something they believed they depended on for their economic livelihood. In 1860, incumbent Democratic President James Buchanan, a northerner from Pennsylvania who was viewed as very sympathetic to the slave-holding interests, declined that he would not seek re-election.
In 1860, when the Democratic Party held its nominating convention, the party struggled unsuccessfully to try and unite the Northern and Southern factions within its party who saw the issue of slavery differently. At their National Convention held in Institute Hall in Charleston, South Carolina in April 1860, 51 Southern Democrats walked out over a platform dispute. The extreme pro-slavery Alabama delegation left the hall first, followed by the delegates of Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, three of the four delegates from Arkansas, and one of the three delegates from Delaware. The remaining delegates nominated Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas, a moderate on the issue of slavery, who favored "popular sovereignty" (i.e. the right of each state to decide whether or not it would permit slavery to exist within its boundaries). But this did not occur immediately. By the 57th ballot, Douglas led the balloting, but was still 51.5 votes short of nomination. On May 3, the delegates agreed to adjourn the convention. They reconvened at the Front Street Theater in Baltimore, Maryland, on June 18. After two more ballots, the remaining Democrats nominated Douglas as their presidential candidate.
The Democrats who bolted the convention in Charleston reconvened in Richmond, Virginia on June 11. When the Democrats reconvened in Baltimore, all states returned except South Carolina and Florida. On 18 June, they bolted again, accompanied by nearly all other Southern delegates. This group met immediately in Baltimore's Institute Hall, and nominated Vice President John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky for President.
Another faction of former Whig Party members nominated former Speaker of the House John Bell, under the banner of the Constitutional Union Party. Bell took no position on slavery. His only issue was saving the Union.
When the election was held on November 6, 1860, the newly created Republican Party (founded in 1854) received a majority of the electoral votes. Abraham Lincoln became president, with no real support from the South. Buchanan had supported Breckinridge in the election.
In October, as election day neared, the US army's Commanding General, Winfield Scott, warned Buchanan that Lincoln's election would likely cause at least seven states to secede. He also recommended to Buchanan that massive amounts of federal troops and artillery be deployed to those states to protect federal property. This was not entirely feasible, as Scott also warned that few reinforcements were available. In 1857 Congress refused to heed both men's calls for a stronger militia and the Army had fallen into a poor condition. Buchanan ignored Scott's recommendations.
After Lincoln's election, Buchanan directed his Secretary of War, John B. Floyd, to reinforce southern forts with such provisions, arms and men as were available. Floyd, a southerner from Virginia, convinced Buchanan to revoke the order.
When Lincoln won the election, talk of secession and disunion reached a fever pitch. Buchanan decided to address the issue in his final message to Congress. Unfortunately, he did not address the issue in any helpful manner. In his message, Buchanan said that states had no legal right to secede from the union. But he also said that the federal government could not legally prevent them from doing so. He placed the blame for the crisis on what he described as "intemperate interference of the Northern people with the question of slavery in the Southern States". He said that if these segments in Congress did not repeal what he called their "unconstitutional and obnoxious enactments", the seceding states would be justified in taking offense. Buchanan's suggestion to solve the crisis was a constitutional amendment reaffirming the constitutionality of slavery in the slave states, and calling for popular sovereignty in the territories.
Buchanan's message pleased no one. It was sharply criticized both by the north, for its refusal to stop secession, and the south, for denying its right to secede. Five days after the address was delivered, Treasury Secretary Howell Cobb, from Georgia, resigned from Buchanan's cabinet.
Efforts were made by statesmen such as Sen. John J. Crittenden, Rep. Thomas Corwin, and former president John Tyler to negotiate a compromise to stop secession. Buchanan supported their efforts, but all failed. Efforts to compromise were also made by a group of governors meeting in New York. Buchanan tried to convince President-elect Lincoln to hold a national referendum to resolve the issue of slavery. Lincoln declined the suggestion.
On December 20, 1860, South Carolina declared its secession from the United States. This was followed by six other slave states, and, by February 1861, they had formed the Confederate States of America. The secessionist states declared eminent domain over federal property within their states. Buchanan and his administration took no action to stop the confiscation of government property. All arsenals and forts in the seceding states were lost (except Fort Sumter, off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, and three island outposts in Florida).
Secessionist fervor was strongest in South Carolina. Buchanan made a deal with South Carolina's legislators that he would not reinforce the Charleston garrison in exchange for no interference from the state. But Buchanan did not inform the Charleston commander, Major Robert Anderson, of the deal and on December 26 Anderson moved his command to Fort Sumter. Southerners responded with a demand that Buchanan remove Anderson, while northerners called for support for Anderson. On December 31, Buchanan ordered reinforcements sent to the fort.
On January 5, Buchanan sent civilian steamer Star of the West to carry reinforcements and supplies to Fort Sumter, which was located in Charleston harbor. On January 9, 1861, South Carolina state batteries opened fire on the ship, preventing it from reaching Fort Sumter. It returned to New York. Buchanan was criticized by both north (for lack of retaliation for the attack on the ship) and the south (for attempting to reinforce Fort Sumter). Buchanan made no further moves either to prepare for war or to avert it.
On the way to his inauguration, traveling by train from his home in Springfield, Illinois, Lincoln addressed crowds and legislatures along the way. He evaded possible assassins in Baltimore, who were discovered by Lincoln's head of security, Allan Pinkerton. On February 23, 1861, he arrived in disguise in Washington, D.C.
Lincoln directed remarks in his inaugural address to the South, telling the seceding states that he no intention, or inclination, to abolish slavery in the Southern states. He said:
"Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States that by the accession of a Republican Administration their property and their peace and personal security are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so."
The President ended his address by telling the people of the South:
"We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."
On Buchanan's final day as president, March 4, 1861, he remarked to the incoming Lincoln, "If you are as happy in entering the White House as I shall feel on returning to Wheatland, you are a happy man." Lincoln and the Republican leadership agreed that the dismantling of the Union could not be tolerated. He later said:
"Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the Nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came."