President Franklin Pierce

Important Events While Franklin Pierce Was President

Leading up to the election of 1852, the Democratic party found itself divided over the issue of slavery. Entering the Democratic convention, several prominent nominees, such as James Buchanan and Sam Houston. After more than thirty votes, no nominee had received enough votes, and Pierce had received none. In an odd action, Buchanan’s electors voted for minority candidates to gain support. But it backfired, as other electors saw Buchanan’s people changing votes, they did as well, and by the 49th Ballot, Pierce was elected as the Democratic nominee.

As a pro-slavery Northern Democrat, the party moved to court the northern pro-slavery vote it lost in other areas of the country. Running against his former commanding officer, Winfield Scott, the Whig Party nominee, Pierce won with 254 electoral votes to Scott’s 42.

• Franklin Pierce Presidency: Facts

  • Term: 1853 to 1857

  • First President from New Hampshire

  • First President born in the 1800s

  • Only elected president who ran for re-election but did not receive his party's nomination.

  • Notable Events: The Gadsden Purchase, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Bleeding Kansas,

Franklin Pierce Presidency: Accomplishments

Several notable events took place during the Pierce Administration. The table below shows a Franklin Pierce presidency timeline of notable events and accomplishments.

Fig. 2- An anti-slavery poster from "Bleeding Kansas."

Franklin Pierce Presidency: Timeline

The table below shows a Franklin Pierce presidency timeline of notable events and accomplishments.

Fig. 3- An orange map shows the territory of the Gadsden Purchase of 1854.

Franklin Pierce Presidency: Significance

Like most presidential administrations in the mid-1800s leading up to 1860, Pierce’s presidency is defined by his actions on the issue of slavery and how those actions either postponed or increased the likelihood of civil war. Under that lens, the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act ignited violent actions over slavery and fanned the passions of both northern abolitionists and pro-slavery southerners. This division is evident through the electoral college changes between 1853 and 1857. In the election of 1852, Pierce carried almost all the northern states. With the fallout of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, in the election of 1856 between James Buchanan, Republican John Fremont, and Whig Millard Fillmore, the Democrats lost all the northern states, emphasizing the divisiveness of the act and showing the actual division between the nation over the issue of slavery.