James Buchanan

James Buchanan Jr. (April 23, 1791 – June 1, 1868) served as the 12th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861, serving just before the American Civil War. Buchanan also served as a senator, ambassador, and vice president.

Early Life
James Buchanan was born in a log cabin in Cove Gap, Pennsylvania, on April 23, 1791. Shortly after Buchanan's birth the family moved to a farm near Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, and in 1794 the family moved to town. Buchanan's father became the wealthiest person in town, as a merchant, farmer, and real estate investor. Buchanan attended the village's Old Stone Academy and then Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Though he was nearly expelled at one point for poor behavior, he pleaded for a second chance and graduated with honors on September 19, 1809.

Buchanan began his political career in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (1814–1816) as a member of the Old Federalist Party. The legislature met for only three months a year, and Buchanan's notoriety as a legislator helped him add clients to his practice. Like his father, Buchanan believed in federally-funded internal improvements, a high tariff, and a national bank.

Political Career
By 1820, the Federalist Party had largely collapsed, and Buchanan ran for the United States House of Representatives as a "Republican-Federalist." During his tenure in Congress, Buchanan became a supporter of Andrew Jackson and an avid defender of states' rights. After the 1824 presidential election, Buchanan helped organize Jackson's followers into the Democratic Party, and he became a prominent Pennsylvania Democrat. In Washington, he became personally close with many southern Congressmen, including William R. King of Alabama. Buchanan tended to view many New England Congressmen as dangerous radicals. He was appointed to the Committee of Agriculture in his first year, and he eventually became Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, leading impeachment proceedings of Judge James H. Peck of the United States District Court for the District of Missouri, arguing that Peck had abused his position. Peck was acquitted by the Senate. Buchanan declined re-nomination to a sixth term, briefly returning to private life.

Buchanan returned to the United States and was elected to the United States Senate by the state legislature in 1834 to oppose the newly elected Henry Clay. Buchanan would remain in the senate as a major obstacle to the Clay administration until the election of Martin Van Buren, who gave Buchanan the role of ambassador to the United Kingdom. Van Buren was voted out in the 1840 election, but President Daniel Writ kept him as ambassador during his own presidency. However after the 1844 election of Harrison F. Hopkins, Buchanan would once again briefly retire from politics.

In 1852 Buchanan accepted the Democratic National Convention invitation to be nominee Franklin Pierce's vice president.

Inauguration
Buchanan was inaugurated on March 4, 1857, taking the oath of office from Chief Justice Roger B. Taney. In his inaugural address, Buchanan committed himself to serving only one term, though Pierce had made the same commitment. Buchanan also deplored the growing divisions over slavery and its status in the territories. Stating that Congress should play no role in determining the status of slavery in the states or territories, Buchanan argued for popular sovereignty. Furthermore, Buchanan argued that a federal slave code should protect the rights of slave-owners in any federal territory.

Acapul-American War
After the Messican-American war in 1856-57 the United States annexed all of Messico, causing concerns of a major cultural shift away from Anglo-American norms. Along with all of Messico the United States inherited the land of the Acapul nation, an Amerindian civilization at the south-west edge of America that had been living in the region since pre-Colombian times. To bring the Messican, Astecoan, and other peoples in Messico closer to the rest of the United States politically and culturally the federal government gave charters for prison colonies along the western coast of Messico, began construction of military bases and forts, and encouraged new settlers to fill in the less populated regions. Few Anglo or French Americans emigrated to the region during the 1850s or 1860s, but many former Messican citizens took up the offer of cheaper land.

Despite lack of interest of settlement from northern Americans, the prisons and military outposts were constructed with haste. By July 1858, an additional 6,000 American soldiers had been moved to the Messican west coast. The Acapul people to the south did not recognized the U.S. claims over their territory as legitimate, and saw the American troops as an invading force. February 9th, 1859, a group of 30 Acapul men armed with rifles attacked an American fort, Fort Alonzo, and killed seventeen of the unsuspecting 100 American soldiers there. Captain Hann L. Klosscher, the leader of the garrison there, retaliated by marching on the nearby Acapul village of Tanaculp. The village had a population of around 350, and after Klosscher and his men had finished storming and burning the village down they had killed over a hundred men, and nearly two dozen women and children. This even became known as the Tanaculp Massacre.

Between 1859 and 1860 the Acapulians waged guerrilla warfare on American military personal, often leading to American counter attacks. Skirmishing lasted for eight months before U.S. Congress decided to step in and halt the violence. President Buchana was displeased with some of the actions take by American soldiers, but was more outraged with the Acapul by what he viewed as lawless savagery. However, the 1860 presidential election was around the corner and opponents to Buchanan's Democrat administration used the conflict as proof that continued Democrat control of government and actions would only push the country into instability and chaos. To assist his Democrat allies, Buchanan agreed to meet with Acapulian king Aqose Pelcas to discuss an end to the conflict.

Although many Acapul people wanted to remain independent from the United States, King Pelcas recognized that the odds greatly favored the U.S. The war ended after with the Madonna Treaty of 1860 which stipulated that the Acapulian lands would become part of the United States as an autonomous region, and that the Acapuls would receive fully citizenship and protection under law. However, the agreement to full citizenship for Acapulians would not be upheld by the federal government until the 1910s.

Legacy
The man literally tore the country in half.