The Attitude of James Buchanan Towards Slavery
The attitude towards slavery of all men prominent in public affairs from 1820 to 1860 is most interesting and instructive, both as a personal study and as throwing light upon the development of the slavery issue. The attitude of Buchanan is especially instructive, as his public life covered the entire period of the controversy, and as he was President when the struggle came to a climax after the election of Lincoln. Let us study his conception of the struggle as a moral, as a constitutional, and as a sectional issue.