6. Whether Kansas should admit slavery now depended upon the vote of the people. The territory was soon filled with an agitated mass of people, thousands of whom had been sent thither to vote. In the elections of 1854-55, the pro-slavery party was triumphant. The State Legislature at Lecompton framed a constitution permitting slavery. The Free Soil party, declaring the elections to have been illegal, assembled at Topeka, and framed a constitution excluding slavery. Civil war broke out between the factions. The hostile parties were quieted, but the agitation extended to all parts of the Union. The Kansas question became the issue in the presidential election of 1856.
7. James Buchanan of Pennsylvania was nominated as the Democratic candidate. He planted himself on the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, and secured a heavy vote both North and South. As the candidate of the Free Soil or People's party, John C. Fremont of California was brought forward. The exclusion of slavery from all the Territories was the principle of the Free Soil platform. The American or Know Nothing party nominated Millard Fillmore. Mr. Buchanan was elected by a large majority, while the choice for the Vice-presidency fell on John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky.
CHAPTER XLIII.
Buchanan's Administration, 1857-1861.
JAMES Buchanan was a native of Pennsylvania, born on the 13th of April, 1791. In 1831 he was appointed Minister to Russia, was afterwards senator of the United States, and Secretary of State under President Polk. In 1853 he received the appointment of Minister to Great Britain. As Secretary of State in the new cabinet, General Lewis Cass of Michigan was chosen.
Trouble with the Mormons.
2. In the first year of Buchanan's administration, serious trouble occurred with the Mormons concerning the enforcement of the authority of the United States over Utah. An army was sent to the Territory in 1857 to compel obedience. For awhile the Mormons resisted; but when the President proclaimed a pardon to all who would submit, they yielded; and order was restored.
