With the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 as President came resentment from Southern states, who felt Lincoln represented the formation of an anti-slavery federal government. South Carolina broke away from the United States soon after the election, and several other Southern states followed in the breakaway. While waiting for Lincoln to take office, President James Buchanan refused to take serious action to stop the break-up of the United States. Consider the following questions:

1. What could Buchanan have done to keep the Union (the United States) together?

2. Could the fighting over slavery have been peacefully resolved? Why or why not?