#14 Franklin Pierce
Year of Presidency: 1853-1857
Party: Democrat
Birthplace: New Hampshire
Born: November 23rd, 1804
Died: October 8th, 1869
Pierce came into presidency during a time of peace, delivered by the Compromise of 1850. Pierce considered the recommendations of Southern advisers, hoping to please them, but his politics eventually led to another disruption among the Union. At his Inaugural, Pierce pointed out that the expansion of the United States was necessary for it's safety, but this only brought out suspicion among Northerners who accused him of working with the Southerners to spread slavery into future states. The Kansas-Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise, reopened the battle on whether or not slavery would spread to the western territories. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, persuaded Pierce to send James Gadsden to Mexico to buy a piece of land for the building of a southern railroad. Douglas provided in his bills that the residents of the new territories should decide the slavery question for themselves. The result was that both Southerners and Northerners rushed into Kansas, fighting for its control. Shooting broke out and the event that became known as "Bleeding Kansas", also marked the start of the Civil War.
"I believe that involuntary servitude, as it exists in different States of this Confederacy, is recognized by the Constitution."
Party: Democrat
Birthplace: New Hampshire
Born: November 23rd, 1804
Died: October 8th, 1869
Pierce came into presidency during a time of peace, delivered by the Compromise of 1850. Pierce considered the recommendations of Southern advisers, hoping to please them, but his politics eventually led to another disruption among the Union. At his Inaugural, Pierce pointed out that the expansion of the United States was necessary for it's safety, but this only brought out suspicion among Northerners who accused him of working with the Southerners to spread slavery into future states. The Kansas-Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise, reopened the battle on whether or not slavery would spread to the western territories. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, persuaded Pierce to send James Gadsden to Mexico to buy a piece of land for the building of a southern railroad. Douglas provided in his bills that the residents of the new territories should decide the slavery question for themselves. The result was that both Southerners and Northerners rushed into Kansas, fighting for its control. Shooting broke out and the event that became known as "Bleeding Kansas", also marked the start of the Civil War.
"I believe that involuntary servitude, as it exists in different States of this Confederacy, is recognized by the Constitution."