Presidency Chart – James Buchanan (15th) (1857 - 1861)

Election of 1856

 

Split in Know-Nothings and rise of Republican Party 

 

 

Major Items during Buchanan’s Presidency

Dred Scott Decision (1857)

 

 

 

 

 

 

LeCompton Constitution

 

 

 

 

Panic of 1857

 

 

 

 

 

Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1858)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry

 

 

Reaction to Harper’s Ferry (1859

 

 

 

 

Ableman v. Booth (1859)

 

 

 

Secession of SC and Creation of the Confederacy

 

 

 

Buchanan’s reaction to secession and attempts to relieve Ft. Sumter

 

 

 

Crittenden Compromise