Buchanan & secession: Nov-Dec 1860

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Many people believe the wavering of President James Buchanan in Novemebr and December of 1860 allowed the secession crisis to explode. Many people feel that the entire movement might have been cut short if Andrew Jackson or someone like him had been in office at that time. Here's a look at what happened in the Buchanan administration in those perilous days.

From the James Buchanan Resource Center (http://deila.dickinson.edu/buchanan/.../1856_1861.htm) timeline of the Buchanan Presidency:

Nov. 6 - Abraham Lincoln is elected President of the US.

Nov. 7 - President Buchanan meets with John Floyd regarding the possibility of attacks on federal forts in Charleston, South Carolina.

Nov. 9 - President Buchanan calls a special cabinet meeting to consider South Carolina’s threat to leave the Union.

Nov. 10 - President Buchanan and his cabinet discuss Col. J. L. Gardner’s aborted attempt to transfer arms from the Charleston, South Carolina arsenal to Fort Moultrie.

Nov. 17 - President Buchanan asks Jeremiah Black for clarification regarding a president’s legal ability to respond to a state’s attempt to secede.

Nov. - President Buchanan informs a group of secessionists that he does not believe that states have the right to secede.

Nov. - President Buchanan decides to reinforce the forts in Charleston, South Carolina, but John Floyd convinces him to postpone action.

Dec. - President Buchanan grants Jacob Thompson permission to act as Mississippi’s agent to North Carolina regarding secession.

Dec. 3 - President Buchanan gives his fourth annual message to Congress.
Dec. 3 - President Buchanan meets with his cabinet regarding Major Robert Anderson’s request for reinforcements for federal forts in South Carolina.

Dec. 8 - President Buchanan meets with members of the US House from South Carolina regarding relations between the federal government and that state.

Dec. 8 - President Buchanan receives the resignation of Howell Cobb from the cabinet.

Dec. 10 - President Buchanan meets with members of the US House from South Carolina regarding federal forts in Charleston Harbor.

Dec. 12 - President Buchanan receives the resignation of Lewis Cass from the cabinet.

Dec. 12 - President Buchanan appoints Philip Thomas to serve as secretary of the treasury.

Dec. 15 - President Buchanan declines General Winfield Scott’s recommendation to reinforce Fort Moultrie with three hundred men.

Dec. 17 - President Buchanan appoints Jeremiah Black to serve as secretary of state and promotes Edwin Stanton to attorney general.

Dec. 17 - President Buchanan refuses to allow Lewis Cass to withdraw his resignation from the cabinet.

Dec. 18 - The Crittenden Compromise is proposed by Senator John J. Crittenden of Kentucky, in a last ditch effort to keep the Southern States from seceding.

Dec. 20 - President Buchanan is notified of South Carolina's decision to secede from the Union.

Dec. 20 - President Buchanan receives a demand from South Carolina's Governor, Francis Pickens, for control of Fort Sumter.

Dec. 20 - South Carolina becomes the first state to secede from the Union.

Dec. 21 - President Buchanan revises Major Robert Anderson's orders, instructing him to use “sound military discretion” rather than to defend the Charleston, South Carolina forts “to the last extremity” if attacked.

Dec. 22 - President Buchanan learns of a scandal involving the use of Indian bonds to pay War Department debts.

Dec. 25 - President Buchanan cancels John Floyd's order to transfer cannons from Pittsburgh to Mississippi and Texas.

Dec. 25 - President Buchanan requests that John Floyd resign from the cabinet.

Dec. 25 - President Buchanan withdraws support from the Washington Constitution due to the newspaper's support of secession.

Dec. 27 - President Buchanan and his cabinet discuss Major Robert Anderson's decision to transfer his troops to Fort Sumter.

Dec. 28 - President Buchanan refuses to recognize commissioners from South Carolina after the state’s secession.

Dec. 28 - President Buchanan learns that South Carolina has taken possession of Fort Moultrie, Castle Pinckney, and the US Customhouse.

Dec. 29 - President Buchanan receives the resignation of John Floyd from the cabinet.

Dec. 29 - President Buchanan receives a written demand from the South Carolina Commissioners for the withdrawal of federal troops from Charleston Harbor.

Dec. 30 - President Buchanan receives a request from General Winfield Scott to send reinforcements to Fort Sumter.

Dec. 30 - Troops from South Carolina seize the Federal Arsenal at Charleston.

Dec. 31 - President Buchanan informs the South Carolina Commissioners that he will not remove federal troops from Fort Sumter.

Dec. 31 - President Buchanan orders the U.S.S. Brooklyn to take reinforcements to Fort Sumter; he then suspends these orders in anticipation of a response from the South Carolina Commissioners.

Regards,
Tim

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Just to bring this old thread back to the top for those who have not seen it.

Tim