MG-28. JAMES BUCHANAN COLLECTION, 1815-1863.
James Buchanan (1791-1868) of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania was President of the United States, 1857-1861, a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1814-1816, a United States representative, 1821-1831, a United States senator, 1834-1845, and was President Polk’s Secretary of State from 1845-1849. This collection contains a letter from then Senator Buchanan to Ovid F. Johnston, Esquire, dated February 2, 1837 regarding a proposal to introduce a bill in Congress appropriating public money for the colonization of American slaves in Africa. In this letter, Buchanan cautioned against raising the proposal made by the colonization society.