421. Abolition Orators.—Public feeling during these years was much intensified in the North by the political speeches delivered by accomplished orators in various parts of the country. The most prominent of these speakers was Wendell Phillips of Boston, who gave his life chiefly to anti-slavery agitation and exerted a vast influence. His work was supplemented effectively by the speeches of Theodore Parker, George William Curtis, Theodore Tilton, Anna Dickinson, and others.
Harriet Beecher Stowe.[[189]]
422. Two Important Books.—In the course of this agitation, public opinion was greatly affected by the appearance of two very important books on the subject of slavery. Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin appeared in 1852. Its object was to represent the horrors of slavery, and it proved to be one of the most influential novels ever published. Though it was intended to represent slavery in the strongest possible light, the picture was somewhat relieved for the people of the South by the fact that the worst characters in the book were “renegades” from the North. Over three hundred thousand copies were sold within a year of its publication, and in the course of five years it had powerfully inflamed the feelings of all the Northern people. In 1857, appeared H. R. Helper’s Impending Crisis of the South. It was written by a representative of the “poor white” class of North Carolina, whose purpose was to arraign slavery from the point of view of the Southern free white laborer. The author described Southern society, and showed how slavery had reduced the poorer white people to a condition of abject misery. The book did much to arouse the fears of the Southern slave owners.
KANSAS AND UTAH.
423. Buchanan’s Weakness.—Meanwhile, President Buchanan had been showing in many ways that he did not realize the gravity of the situation. He was an old man and inclined to rely on Democratic leaders of strong pro-slavery proclivities. Thus, although himself a Northerner, he had little support from his own section. His Cabinet contained four Southerners, while the Secretary of State, General Cass, was a sympathizer with the Southern attitude toward the slavery question. Eventually this Cabinet was broken up and a stronger one obtained (§ [441]), but not before many of the departments, especially those of War and of the Treasury, were reduced to a state of great disorganization. Indeed, so badly were the finances of the nation managed, that treasury notes had to be issued in order that national insolvency might be avoided. Yet more than once President Buchanan proposed to Congress that Cuba should be purchased, and recommended other rash legislation, which, if carried out, would probably have led to a war with Mexico and the states of Central America.
James Buchanan.
424. Affairs in Kansas.—One of Buchanan’s most important appointments was that of Robert J. Walker of Mississippi, who had been Secretary of the Treasury under Polk, as governor of Kansas. Walker understood that he was to cease trying to force slavery upon the Kansas settlers, but was rather to attempt to make the territory a state favorable to the Democrats. On this understanding he succeeded in inducing the friends of freedom to vote for members of the territorial legislature, with the result that they obtained a clear majority in that body. But the slavery advocates, at a convention held at Lecompton, adopted a constitution favoring slavery, with a proviso that the article relating to the institution was the only one that should be submitted to the people for ratification. Fearing some trick, the Free State people stayed away from the polls, and the Lecompton constitution was easily carried by a partisan vote. Walker then went to Washington in order to protest against conduct which, it was believed, was connived at by the administration. He found that Buchanan and his advisers were hearty advocates of the Lecompton constitution, whereupon he resigned his governorship.
425. Failure of the Lecompton Scheme.—Meanwhile, the Free State legislature of Kansas had submitted the whole Lecompton constitution to the people, and it had been rejected by over eleven thousand majority. Yet Buchanan, in a special message to Congress, urged the admission of Kansas as a state under the obnoxious instrument. A long and fierce debate was the result, Senator Douglas, to his credit, standing out against the majority of his party. The pro-slavery Democrats were obstinate, in spite of many warnings, and pushed matters to a vote. The administration’s measure for making Kansas a slave state passed the Senate, but failed in the House. Later a discreditable bill attempting to bribe Kansas to come in under the pro-slavery constitution passed Congress; but the Kansas people refused by a large majority to enter the Union hampered by slavery, even if they could thereby acquire a large grant of public lands. The bill which offered Kansas this bribe was popularly known as “Lecompton Junior.” After it was rejected by the Kansans, affairs in the region became comparatively quiet. The territory was not finally admitted as a state until 1861.