James Buchanan: The Last President before the Civil War

The Buchanan family represented the industrious middle class that formed the backbone of Pennsylvania society during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, with James Sr. operating a successful trading post and general store that served the agricultural community while gradually accumulating land and other investments that provided the foundation for the family's prosperity. Elizabeth Buchanan managed the household with the efficiency and moral authority typical of Presbyterian women of her generation, emphasizing education, religious instruction, and proper conduct while ensuring that her children understood both their privileges and their responsibilities as members of a respectable family in a democratic society.