After college, Pierce studied law and was admitted to the bar in From , Pierce served in the New Hampshire legislature. From to he was that body's speaker. When he took his seat the following year he was 32 years old, the youngest member of the senate. In Pierce resigned his seat and returned to New Hampshire to practice law. In a congressional report, Howard H. Four years later, the Southern states saw the election of Abraham Lincoln as the final Northern betrayal and began seceding from the Union.
On April 12, , General P. When letters to his friend Jefferson Davis expressing this view and his lack of enthusiasm for the war effort were uncovered and published, his reputation was permanently damaged.
While Franklin Pierce tried to keep the Union together, his policies laid the foundation for the very conflict he tried to avoid. He was buried next to his wife and two of his three children in Old North Cemetery. Despite his long service to his state and his country, Franklin Pierce is judged harshly by some as a man on the wrong side of history.
More recent scholarship accords Pierce credit as a good citizen and a moderate with, as described by historian Peter A. Foner, Eric. New York: Oxford University Press, The University of Virginia Miller Center. American President Reference Center. Wallner, Peter A.
Franklin Pierce: Martyr for the Union. Concord, NH: Plaidswede Publishing, Keating, Deborah. The Kansas City Public Library. After a deadlock, Pierce was elected president, but the joy of his victory was soon eclipsed by the death of one of his sons, caused by a train accident.
Once in office, Pierce faced the question of Kansas' and Nebraska's slavery status. When he agreed to sign the Kansas-Nebraska Act in , it turned Kansas into a battleground for the country's conflict over slavery.
Pierce's handling of the affair caused his democratic supporters to abandon him during the presidential election, in favor of his successor, James Buchanan.
Following his term as president, Pierce retired to Concord, New Hampshire. During the Civil War, he was once again vocal about his point-of-view as a Northerner, with a more typically Southern view of slavery. He was also outspoken in his opposition to the nation's new president, Abraham Lincoln.
Pierce's unpopular view garnered him several enemies among his fellow Northerners. Nearing the end of his life and fading quickly into obscurity, Pierce took up drinking again. He died on October 8, , in Concord, New Hampshire. He was buried there, in the Old North Cemetery. We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives.
Franklin D. President Pierce personally lobbied Democrats to support Douglas's bill. As the tide of opposition rose in the North, Pierce used the Kansas-Nebraska Act as a test of party loyalty. He used his presidential powers to cajole, threaten, or promise federal patronage for support and, in the end, was able to direct the votes of many Northern Democrats.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was the most important legislation of the Pierce presidency, but it was a costly victory. Many in the North believed Pierce catered to Southern interests who wanted to expand slavery. This led to a loss of Northern support for Pierce's foreign policy. President Pierce showed that he could not govern effectively or unite the party.
The divisive debate surrounding the spread of slavery would not go away-as it had not in and , and Pierce's presidency languished as a result. The Canadian Reciprocity Treaty opens the U. Its membership is composed of Whigs, Free-Soilers, and northern Democrats angry at the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, specifically, and concerned with the prospect of expanding slavery. Soule's brash diplomacy in Spain dashes Pierce's hopes to annex Cuba, a goal supported by Southerners who viewed the island as a location where slavery might flourish.
The State Department disavows any connection to the document and forces Soule's resignation later that year. Future President James Buchanan is one of three signers of the Manifesto. In congressional elections, the Whigs continue to decline in power while Democrats also suffer losses. The fledging Republican Party has yet to prove its ability to contest the Democrats but boasts impressive gains through cooperation with the American Party.
Forty-four Republicans are elected to the House of Representatives. Nationality laws are changed so that all children born abroad to U. Antislavery settlers in Kansas form an army -- entitled the Free State forces -- with munitions from Northern states.
Abolitionist John Brown follows five of his sons to the territory to lead the group. In response to the pro-slavery territorial government and its illegal political proceedings, the Topeka Constitution, written by Free State forces and outlawing slavery, creates a second government in Kansas. The Wakarusa War threatens Lawrence, Kansas. Fifteen hundred Border Ruffians attack the town, only to retreat after finding it defended by Free State forces. Lawrence -- originally named Wakarusa -- becomes the center of Free-State activities after being founded by the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society.
The Republican Party holds its first national meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One person dies as the band burns a hotel and two newspaper offices. The fight is provoked by conversation and derogatory remarks made two days earlier during the Senate debate on the admission of Kansas.
Sumner suffers severe injuries, taking three years to recover from the beating. In retaliation for the pro-slavery raid on Lawrence, Kansas, John Brown and several followers massacre five unarmed, pro-slavery Kansans along the Pottawatomie Creek.
Although Pierce desires a second term, his party refuses to nominate him, unhappy with his performance. Such a denial to a United States President is without precedent. Dayton for vice president. From August , , an army of to hundred pro-slavery Missourians attack John Brown and 40 defenders. In the Battle of Osawatomie, the settlement all but four homes is burned by the invaders and John Brown's son Frederick is killed.
0コメント