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JAMES BUCHANAN
Copyright 1985
An Original History by
"The bachelor
Bernard Vincent McMahon
President who granted
THE PONCHATOULA TIMES, DECEMBER 26, 1985, PAGE SIX
a divorce to the North and ,_q 00uth"
Part Two in a Series
In 1859 the slavery cauldron boiled over. Out of the woodwork came fanatics
whose actions against slavery and for slavery did not border on, but were definitely
psychopatic. The most notorious was John Brown, a direct descendant of Peter
Brown, a passenger on the Mayflower. On May 24, 1856 he and his three sons
and four other henchmen slaughtered James Doyle and two of his sons.
Afterwards Allen Wilkinson and Bill Sherman were murdered. "Slavery was sin
and the wages of sin was death," said Brown. As there was no law in Kansas they
went unpunished. Rich New England Abolitionists financed his raid on Harper's
Ferry, the object and uprising of Negro slaves. He was captured and hung but
now he was a martyr. Thousands of Union soldiers went into battle chanting,
"John Brown's body lies a mouldering in his grave."
The Edmund Ruffln Story
The South's answer to John Brown was an equally colorful lunatic, Edmund
Ruffin of an old colonial Virginia family, a genius at agriculture and a nut on
secession.
tle was on hand at Harper's Ferry when they hanged John Brown. From there
he toured Southern state capitals imploring legislatures to secede from the union.
Next he showed up Charleston to pull the lanyard on the first cannon aimed at
Fort Sumter.
As an enlisted man in the Palmetto Guards at the tender age of sixty seven, he
was the oldest soldier in the Confederate Army. Unfortunately he fell asleep
exhausted at the foot of a ten inch mortar which was fired with a roar over his
head making him temporarily stone deaf. lie sailed over to Fort Sumpter on its
surrender and picked up a piece of sharpnel found on the parade ground and
mailed it to Jefferson Davis.
Sending his three sons off to the Confederate service he retreated to his
plantation firmly believing the war would be over in three months. Rumors about
an impending battle at Bull Run (Manassas Junction) aroused his martial ardor
and he entrained for Richmond in his Palmetto Guards uniform and there
boarded a troop train for Bull Run. Here he was welcomed by his old company
but couldn't keep up with their hikes so returned to Manassas Junction. Awaiting
a train home he heard the artillery rushed back to the front. Again the artillery
battery he joined at Charleston let him fire their first shot at the retreating Union
army under McDowell. He combed the battlefield for souvenirs and collected
trophies.
In the late spring of 1862 in the Battle of Seven Pines he gloated over the
Union dead until a Confederate officer brought him to his grandson's body. The
Union army whose men were'well acquainted with Ruffin's military actions
swarmed over his plantation, completely vanalizing it. Bad news came then. His
son Charles was a deserter, Another son. Julian, was killed in battle. His favorite
daughter, Mildred, was dead. Lee had surrendered the war was over on Sunday.
June 18, 1865. In despair over the lost cause Ruffin put the muzzle of his musket
in his mouth and with a stick pushed the trigger. His son Edmund sent a letter to
his sons: "The Yankees have killed your grandfather."
The nation moves apart
In the midst of the heated presidential campaign who should show up but his
royal highness, the Prince of Wales. Edwart Albert, later King Edward the
Seventh, who served as Prince of Wales longer than any other heir apparent to
the English throne. Buchanan who hated playing cards allowed card playing but
no dancing on the White House unit. Retiring to bed he found all the beds
occupied and had to sleep on a coach. The next day they cruised on the Potomac
where there was music and dancing to and from Mr. Vernon.
The presidential election campaign was noteworthy in that Stephen A. Douglas
got on a train and toured in the South where he did more damage to the Union
cause by smearing Breckinridge.
Lincoln's election was extremely Iobsided. He polled roughly 1,800,000 votes
to the combined opposition of over 2,800,000 votes. Electoral colle'ge: Lincoln,
180 votes; Breckinridge, 72; Bell, 39; Doualas. 12. Only 39,8 percent cast
"Before he departed
the White House
seven states
seceded from
the Union..."
ballots for Lincoln. Buchanan, hearing the news retreated to the White House
library, picked up a Bible and opened it to Ecclesiastes and read, "vanity of
vanities. All's vanity. What does a man gain by all the toil at which he toils."
Before he departed the White House seven states seceded from the Union led
by South Carolina. followed by Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi,
and Texas. Forming the Confederate States headed by their president, Jefferson
Davis. Buchanan took the position that although secession was illegal, the federal
government lacked the constitutional authority to force any state to remain in the
union. In January 1861 he dispatched the unarmed merchant ship "Star of the
West" with supplies to Fort Sumpter after Charleston merchants cut off food
deliveries. Confederate shore batteries drove it away. Shortly after this Major
Anderson, out of supplies, and after a brief cannonade, surrendered the garrison.
This action inflamed the North who up to this time were not taking the
Confederacy seriously. Warning the South secession was unconstitutional
Buchanan added in this message to Congress: "All that is necessary (to settle the
slavery question)...And to all for which the slave states have ever contended, is to
be let alone and permitted to manage their domestic institutions in their own way.
As sovereigfl,states, they and they alone, are responsible before God and the
world for the slavery existing among them. For this the people of the North are
not more responsible and have no right than with similar institutions in Russia or'
Brazil."
The Associated Press carried a wire story in August 1985 reported that a
community of blacks asked that their hamlet be declared an historic site. They
claim to be descendants of slaves smuggled into the Southern states in 1859
contrary to a federal law enacted in 1801 forbidding this trade. The law was not
enforced by the federal government or U.S. Navy. To say that President
Buchanan was not aware of this illegal trade is preposterous. To understand the
murkiness of Buchanan's mind, consider this sentence in his message to
Congress: "Secession is neither more nor less than revolution. It may or4t may
not be a justifiable revolution, but still it is revolution".
Finally he asked Congress to call a constitutional convention containing three
points: (one) an express recognition of the right of property in slaves in the states
where it now exists or may hereafter exist; (two) the duty of protecting this right in
all common territories throughout their territorial existence, and until they shall be
admitted as states into the union, with or without slavery, as their constituents
may prescribe; (three) a like recognition of the right of the master to have his
slave, who has escaped from one state to another, restored and 'deliver up" to
him.
The heat was not on Lincoln to offer a program avoiding secession and he did a
strange thing. He clammed up. Nolnterviews, no speeches. Buchanan wrote to
Hiram Swarr, "The black Republicans say nothing and I fear will do nothing to
arrest the imPending catastrophe. These remarks are strictly private,"
Attorney General Black listened to Buchanan tell Northerners and Southerners
Putting away
your decorations
And best wishes for a happy
• d
hohday season. May you an
yours enjoy the fun and friendship
that make this ume of year so
special. It has been our pleasure to
serve you over the past years and
our sincere wish to serve you even
further m the coming new year.
You are specml to us and your
needs are our number one
priority. Seasons Greetings!
345-7801
Hammond
748-9837
Amite
Although putting away the holiday
decorations usually isn't as much fun as
putting them up, a little planning now
can save you a lot of time in looking
forward to next year's Yuletide cele-
bration.
"Think about how you decorate your
house," says Dr. Karen Behm. family
resource management specialist with
the Louisiana Cooperative Extension
Service. "Do you put everything ul at
once or are you constantly rummaging
through boxes trying to find a few things
at a time? By packing in reverse order
from the way you unpacked, the
decorations needed first will be on top."
Some people find that a separate box
for each room that's decorated is help-
ful, Behm adds. That way, one can put
each group away without having a lot of
extra packing boxes sitting around. This
makes it easy to do a little bit each
evening after work, she says.
Check decorations before putting
away to see what needs to be thrown
away or replaced, Behm suggests. By
making a list, you will know what you
need to replace during the after-Christ-
mas or next year's pre-Christmas sales.
Be sure to write down the size, type and
color of light bulbs, the length of
additional light strings needed and any
other details that might be needed. It's
often hard to remember the size of
wreath needed when you come across
the perfect one in September.
Leave your boxes within easy reach if
you plan to shop the after-Christmas
sales. That way any new decorations,
cards, wrapping paper, etc.. can be
packed. If that's not possible, be sure to
make a note on your December 1986
calendar so you will know where you
put them next year.
Before storing, label each box with
the specific contents. Behm says. If you
are storing in the attic, be sure there is
nothing that will melt over Louisiana's
hot and humid summer. Candles are
obvious, but some plastics also may
soften and bend out of shape if they are
not packed carefully in an appropriate
place. Dried arrangements, including
straw wreaths, attract insects and should
be packed separately or replaced each
year.
If no one wants the job of taking
down the decorations, make it the focus
of a family party for New Year's. As the
ornaments are removed from the tree,
each family member can share one
highlight from the past year.
After the boxes are packed is a good
time to talk about family goals for the
coming year. Often during the holidays
family members are so busy with their
own friends that a quiet time together at
the end of the holidays can be an
important part of maintaining good
family.relationships.
And. who knows? Maybe an untrim-
the-tree party may be the most popular
one of all!
maL.times, "Neither secession nor coercion (an executive order for an armed
mvaslo of a state ... to put secession down) were comprehended in the federal
constitution, and to say so was not the mere partisan expression of one president.
In a 1962 poll of American historians Buchanan ranked 29th of 31 presidents
and last of 6 "below average" presidents. He ranked above Grant, below Pierce.
Yet these all-knowing pedagogues can't or won't tell their students what is their
recommendations for a 1861 solution to secession or coercion to the slavery
question or as it was referred to by polite Southerners as "That peculiar institution"
President Harry Truman once said. "Any schoolboy can give a hindsight solution
to a problem but I dare them to give a forsight solution."
My solution would be to give citizenship and voting rights to black property
owners, professional men, merchants, etc. and educate blacks. Stop the illegal
slave trade with African tribal chiefs and enforce it by the use of the U.S. Navy
and Coast Guard; education of black children both academically and trade.
Outlaw the breakup of families wherein the husband was sold to one buyer, the
mother to another and the children to a third. Legalize marriages and births (slave
wives were known as "broad wives." where the term broad originated)..
End Part Two
Care for a Rockwell
or a tour of the Atchafalaya"
Why not treat your art club to a short
film on Watercolor as a painting
medium or give them a look at Norman
Rockwell's World to see the great
illustrator as a man and an artist?
Perhaps your garden club would like
to tour Atchafalaya as photographed on
film by C.C. Lockwood, or to see some
of the great plantation houses in Yester-
day and Tomorrow. The Great Gardens
of Louisiana are also available on film. If
you are a silent movie fan, y,ou will
enjoy The Railrodder with Buster
Keaton. Maybe you find Nature fasci-
nating--try Seal Island, one of the Walt
Disney Nature Series films or Volcano
Surtsey, a f!!m record of the creation of i
land resulting from the eruption of a
volcano near Iceland. If 19th Century i
American literature is one of your
interests, get Nathaniel Hawthorne for
dramatized excerpts as well as a wealth
of detail about all aspects of his life.
These are only a few of the 16mm
films sent for our November film deposit
collection. Films can be borrowed by
groups and organizations or by
individual, responsible registered library
patrons. To get further information
about the selection available or to order
a film, call or come by your branch
library.
Attention
, 1
For 57 years we have attempted to fulfdl all the d/smnt o perts purchases and service wm'k.
automotive needs of the area public. We think we fer is extended to all (I0 years old or older.
have been very suc, csful, and attritmte a great dt complete the brief applicatioa below, return
deal ol our succ"-s to the patronage of our elderly to us, and we'll issue your "Scni CiUze Dia-
customers, As a teken d our great aptio count C-,ard" to be presented when your
our elderly friends, we'd like to offer a 10 percent is made.
Name Date eL Birth
Addre- tit-/ State , 7Jp--------
Year, make, model of present automobile
Phone Sil,atl,u'e
, Retlltn to:
Hood Moto¢ Co.
501 S. Ist St.
Amite, La.
"F/rst/n eusWme'r safaetion!"
501 $. First St, Antte 748-7118 • 2296217 • NS-lg15 • 878-4786
i
I II
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could your family afforJ the
mortgage payments?
If not, you ought to consider ilfi I
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121 W. Pine St.
Ponchatoula
iNmwam
II I IIIIII I