BUCHANAN 



972 



BUCHANAN 



OUTLINE AND QUESTIONS ON JAMES 

 BUCHANAN 



Outline 



I. Early Years 



(1) Birth and education 



(2) Law study 



(3) In the War of 1812 



II. Political Career 



(1) In the House of Representatives 



(2) As minister to Russia 



(3) In the Senate 



(4) As Secretary of State 

 (a) The Oregon dispute 



(5) As minister to Great Britain 



III. Administration 



(1) The slavery Issue 



(a) Dred Scott decision 



1. The questions at issue 



2. The decision 



3. The result 



(b) The struggle for Kansas 



1. "Bleeding Kansas" 



2. Attempts to secure statehood 



3. Lecompton Constitution 



(c) The underground railway 



(d) John Brown's raid 



(2) The election of 1860 



(a) Democratic convention 



(b) Republican convention 



(c) Result 



( 3 ) Secession 



(a) South Carolina secedes 



(b) Efforts at compromise 



1. Crittenden Compromise 



2. Peace conference 



3. Corwin Amendment 



(c) Formation of the Confederacy 



(4) Other events 



(a) Admission of states to the Union 



(b) Financial panic of 1857 



(c) Atlantic cable, 1857 



(d) Lincoln-Douglas debates, 1858 



(e) Oil discovered in Pennsylvania, 



1859 



(f) William Walker's filibustering ex- 



pedition 



(g) Death of Washington Irving 



Questions 



When and why was "Buck and Breck" a popular slogan? 



In what sense was North America nearer to Europe at the close of Buchanan's 

 administration than at the beginning? 



What stand did 'Buchanan take on the question of the right of a citizen to peti- 

 tion Congress? 



In what way was the President connected with the history of certain Central 

 American states? 



When did he refuse to recognize a formal delegation save as "private gentlemen 

 of the highest character"? 



How many Presidents were older than Buchanan at the time of their nomina- 

 tion? 



Does Canada owe anything to him? 



If he had had his way, how much larger would the United States be than it is 

 at present? 



What was his attitude at the close of his term of office on the subject of the com- 

 ing war? 



Why did not Buchanan care to be sent as minister to Great Britain? What led 

 him to accept the post? 



What decision, epoch-making in its effects, was pronounced by the Supreme 

 Court during his term of office? 



In what way did the death of a girl once affect the history of the United States? 



What was Buchanan's attitude toward secession? 



