alternatehistory.com

James Buchanan's cabinet was created with the philosophy that he should be the top dog and whose members would share his views. The composition of the cabinet would largely consist of a mix of Southerners or Northerners sympathetic to the South. This move would alienate many in the North, even those within his own party. Buchanan had intended to focus his efforts on foreign policy but growing tensions over the status of slavery would defined his term.

Beyond the fighting in Kansas, various incidences and rulings fueled the spilt between the North and South. Such as a number of high profile cases involving the enforcement of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act with many feeling that the act undermined local and state laws along with enabling the enslavement of free Northern Blacks. One such case was that of Anthony Burns, who in 1854 was arrested and reenslaved for a time before being given his freedom following payment by Northern abolitionists. His arrest culminated in a mob attacking a courthouse with Boston being placed under martial law. The split over slavery would also see violence within the United States Congress as Senator Preston Brook would attack fellow Senator Charles Sumner in retaliation for a speech criticizing slaveholders. The attack would be supported by Southerners while Northerners saw Sumber as a martyr. Another cause for Northern rage was ruling in the Dred Scott v. Sandford on March 6, 1857. The case was around Dred Scott who had been living with his master in a free states for a few years, who had sued for his freedom. The Supreme Court ruled that the national government could not block someone from owning slaves in any American territories. In addition, the court ruled that as a black person Dred Scott could not be an American citizen and was outside the jurisdiction of the federal court.

1857 also saw the first global economic crisis in September with news spreading rapidly thanks to the telegraph. The crisis was started with the failure of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company which triggered a financial panic on August 24th. Beyond the initial event, the panic was the result of a declining international economy along with over-speculation in the railroad industry and over-expansion of the American economy. The panic saw thousands of business and banks go under with mass unemployment in the Northern Untied States with the South left barely affected thanks to it's more agrarian economy.