Secretary of War John B. Floyd faces charges of corruption and collusion with the South, as Major Robert Anderson strategically moves his Federal garrison from Fort Moultrie to the stronger Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina.
Tag: James Buchanan
Do You Suppose the House is on Fire?
The quickly spreading news of South Carolina’s exit from the Union shakes America like nothing else in her history. Secession delegates pass resolutions to assert state authority over Federal property and to establish a new nation of slave-holding states.
The South Carolina Secession
Delegates to the Convention of the People of South Carolina, in reaction to the election of a northern Republican president, unanimously approve an ordinance to secede from the United States and form the Palmetto Republic.
The Evil Has Now Passed Beyond Control
Treasury Secretary Howell Cobb becomes the first member of President James Buchanan’s cabinet to resign over the sectional crisis. He would not be the last.
President Buchanan’s 1860 Message to Congress
The last annual message of James Buchanan’s presidency acknowledges that North and South are “now arrayed against each other.” He offers suggestions on how to resolve the crisis, but he leaves both sections dissatisfied.
Fort Sumter is a Tempting Prize
Maj. Robert Anderson begins looking for a more defensible position for his Federal garrison in Charleston Harbor, and South Carolina officials go to Washington to negotiate Anderson’s withdrawal from their state.