General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Just curious: Worst president ever [View all]Hippo_Tron
(25,453 posts)Buchanan's position was that military action could not be used to stop secession. Andrew Jackson had no such position. He told South Carolina that if they went through with secession, he would send in the army and have all of their leaders hung as traitors.
Buchanan's position allowed the radical slavery fanatics in South Carolina and Mississippi to lure in the support of the rest of the south, because they didn't fear any consequences from the federal government. They were allowed to secede peacefully without any fear of consequences from the federal government.
Sam Houston a pro-slavery but anti-secession Governor of Texas was thrown out of office when Texas voted to secede in early 1861. Here's what he told the crowd as he was leaving the Governor's mansion...
"Let me tell you what is coming. After the sacrifice of countless millions of treasure and hundreds of thousands of lives, you may win Southern independence if God be not against you, but I doubt it. I tell you that, while I believe with you in the doctrine of states rights, the North is determined to preserve this Union. They are not a fiery, impulsive people as you are, for they live in colder climates. But when they begin to move in a given direction, they move with the steady momentum and perseverance of a mighty avalanche; and what I fear is, they will overwhelm the South."
Sam Houston knew precisely what was coming, but the vast majority of Texans didn't have the faintest clue. They believed southern independence would be an easy victory and they had every reason to believe it would be, because Buchanan did absolutely nothing to convince them otherwise. Federal troops showing up at South Carolina's doorstep upon their decision to secede could've convinced Texas and many other southern states to come around to Sam Houston's point of view well before it was too late.