A School History of the United States

by John Bach McMaster

The Democrats nominated James Buchanan and John C. Breckinridge and carried the election. The Whigs and the Know-nothings then disappeared from national politics.

[Illustration: James Buchanan]

%395. James Buchanan, Fifteenth President; the "Bred Scott Decision."%—When Buchanan and Breckinridge were inaugurated, March 4, 1857, certain matters regarding slavery were considered as legally settled forever, as follows:

1. Foreign slave trade forbidden.

2. Slave trade between the states allowed.

3. Fugitive slaves to be returned.

4. Whether a state should permit or abolish slavery to be determined by the state.

5. Squatter sovereignty to be allowed in Kansas and Nebraska, Utah and New Mexico territories.

6. The people in a territory to determine whether they would have a slave or a free state when they made a state constitution.

Now there were certain questions regarding slavery which were not settled, and one of them was this: If a slave is taken by his master to a free state and lives there for a while, does he become free?