The Role Of Marine Protected Areas Environmental Sciences Essay

The Role Of Marine Protected Areas Environmental Sciences Essay Among different ecosystem in the world coral reef ecosystem is one of the most important ecosystem which benefits millions of people around the whole world by buffering coastal communities against ocean storms, supply of animal protein, pharmaceuticles product made from harbor organisms and also provide esthetic values for tourists, support tourism based economies and also act as a living laboratory for scientists. Coral reefs are threatened by human activities like, sedimentation, pollution, overfishing and other factors (Dirk Lauretta, 1998). Destructive fishing practices with the use of poisons, expolsives, fine mesh nets reduces entire reefs ecosystems. Among all the marine environment, coral reefs are home to more than a quarter of all known marine fish species (M. Don, 1995). Coral reefs occupy less than one percent of the Earths marine environment, but are home to more than a quarter of all known marine fish species and tens of thousands of other species found nowhere else on earth. The degradation of coastal ecosystems not only results in a loss of biodiversity but also a loss of revenue, depleted fish stocks and increased exposure of communities to storms. Marine protected areas is a protected areas of ocean covering a wide range of marine areas with some level of restriction to protect living, non-living, cultural and historic resources. World Conservation Union (IUCN) defines marine protected areas as, any area of the intertidal or subtidal terrain, together with its overlying water and associated flora, fauna, historical and cultural features, which has been reserved by law or other effective means to protect part or all of the enclosed environments. In the world there are now 1300 marine protected areas and many more are in planning stage (Kelleher et al. 1995). Conservation and sustainable provision for human uses are the main objectives for marine protected areas. Marine protected areas can include: coral reefs, seagrass beds, tidal lagoons, mudflats, saltmarshes, mangroves, rock platforms, shipwrecks, archeological sites, underwater areas on the coast, and seabeds in deep waters (Australian Government). Marine protected areas are mainly dedicated to protect the biodiversity rich areas, like coral reefs. Among the most diverse ecosystem on the planet coral reefs are one of them. Coral reefs are important asset for biological and natural heritage, which serves as sea food, medicinal materials, income from tourism, buffering coastal cities and protect from storm damage (Dirk Lauretta, 1998). Description: Coral reefs have structural complexity with high biodiversity and densities. Globaly there are approximately 93,000 coral species are recorded and suggested estimates of reef associated species between one and three million which covers 284,000km2 or 0.09% of the total surface area of the ocean. Though these complex ecosystems are rare, 4000 worldwide fish species use these ecosystem as their home (Steven, 2008). Humans are increasingly rely on coral reefs because of their proximity to shore, fisheries support and recreational opportunities. But unfortunately these ecosystems are in greate threat due to overfishing, destructive fishing practices, land based pollution, agriculture, deforestation and global climate change (Wilkinson,1998). Coral reefs have biological, socioeconomic, scientific and aesthetic values (Smith,1978; Salm Kenchinton, 1984; Clark et al., 1989) and there are many ways to conserve or manage coral reef resources through the establishment of marine protected areas (Bohnsack,1990; Polunin,1990; Rowley,1994) The majority of worlds coral reefs are situated in the waters of developing nations which is a big challenge for conservation of these ecosystems (Souter Linden, 2000), because of poverty, hunger, political instability and economic development, where coral reef preservation is not the top priorities for the governments (McManus,1997). Many coral reef fishes and invertebrates are relatively site attached and target fish species moved to greater distances and also play intra-reefal movements between reefs across channels (Davies, 1995; Chapman Kramer, 2000). Now a days coral reefs are in serious trouble in the whole world by combination of stresses which are threatening their survival, and also by the following facts overexploitation of resources and commercial fishing; degradation and destroy the habitat by destructive fishing practices increasing coastal populations, which are expected to double in the next 50 years; poor and unauthorized uses of land and runoff of nutrients, sediments and pollutants. disease outbreaks, poor water quality and pollutants; coral bleaching with seawater temperatures increasing and global change; and deforestation of coastal mangrove. Even apparently transient fish such as the blue trevally show strong site fidelity (Holland et al. 1996). This has huge implications for MPA design. Though many species like coral trouts move long distance (Davies 1995; Kramer Chapman 1999), within the reefs but their densities will increases within the MPA area which can only protect part of an island (Russ Alcala 1996a; Evans Russ in press). MPAs established to protect the whole reefs or part of the island to get the best result for conservation and larval export objectives (ISRS, 2004). Reefs at Risk: A Map-Based Indicator of Threats to the Worlds Coral Reefs, is the first global assessment of coral reefs to map areas at risk from overfishing, coastal development, and other human activity. The study finds that nearly 60 percent of the earths coral reefs are threatened by human activity ranging from coastal development and overfishing to inland and marine pollution leaving much of the worlds marine biodiversity at risk. Key findings of the report Coral reefs of Southeast Asia, the most species-rich on earth, are the most threatened of any region.  More than 80 percent are at risk, primarily from coastal development and fishing- related pressures. Most United States reefs are threatened.  Almost all the reefs off the Florida coast are at risk from a range of factors, including runoff of fertilizers and pollutants from farms and coastal development. Close to half of Hawaiis reefs are threatened, while virtually all of Puerto Ricos reefs are at risk. Nearly two-thirds of Caribbean reefs are in jeopardy.  Most of the reefs on the Antilles chain, including the islands of Jamaica, Barbados, Dominica and other vacation favorites, are at high risk. Reefs off Jamaica, for example, have been ravaged as a result of overfishing and pollution. Many resemble graveyards, algae-covered and depleted of fish. Reefs at risk revisited (2010) include the same local and regional threats as previous reefs at risk with two new components: (a) an assessment of threats related to climate change (coral bleaching and ocean acidification), and (b) an evaluation of the social and economic implications of reef degradation on the worlds coastal populations. The establishment of most marine reserves have two main objectives: conservation and sustainable provision for human uses. Marine protected areas are important for their biological dimensions, such as, productivity, importance as habitat. Breeding and migration, and biodiversity. Marine protected areas used as tool for the marine environment to meet management objectives which reflect political and social views and reconcile fishery and conservation concerns. The success of MPA depends on the quality of governance and the social and economic situation how people use marine goods and services (Jennings, 2009). The report done by fisheries doctorines summarize the role of marine protected areas are; small MPA can lead the increase of number and size of molluscan and crustacean with low mobility, reduction in fishing mortality and changes in habitates, increases in spawning, evidence of spil over, protecting juveniles, spin-off benefits for commercial species (Defra, 2006). MPAs can provide great role for coral reefs, for example, the worlds biggest Great Barrier Reef one of the largest protected area allowing sustainable utilization of the reef with numerous uses often conflicting needs by providing support for the economic, social, and political arguments to protect coral reefs. Reefs are tremendously high dynamic and open ecosystem, depends on currents carrying nutrients, water and oxygen, transporting larvae and other materials and also carry pollutants and sediments which inhibit new recruitment of coral and fish in the reefs community. MPAs are established as a conservation tool, play significant role in tourism, positive effects on abundances, biomass, sizes and reproductive outputs of many reef species. The use of MPAs to manage the long distance migrating species by the protection of the habitats by a small portion of certain species population thought to have high site fidelity (Gell Roberts, 2003). Many coral reef fish species use different habitats like, sea grasses, estuaries, and mangrove swamps (Nagelkerken et al. 2002; Mumby et al. 2004), and MPAs can protect these representative habitats on their life stages for management purposes. Ecological linkages The marine ecosystem controlled by bottom-up such as variable recruitment (Doherty Williams, 1988) or top-down processes through predation (Grigg et al. 1984). A wide range of species coral reef fish shows high variable recruitment (Newman et al. 1996; Meekan et al. 2001) which may impact on the ecosystem. Both coral reef fish abundances and assemblage structure affected by recruitment and predation. Predation on the other hand may serve to control outbreaking species such as crown-of-thorns starfish (Dulvy et al. 2004b), MPA size potentially influencing the ability of a MPA on part of an island or reef to control such outbreaks. Role of marine protected areas: Protection of different species which are very sensitive for fishing is the main role of marine protected area, such as fragile benthichabitat-forming organism like, gorgonians are protected by MPAs. Reef biodiversity also improved their habitat quality by MPAs. MPAs also play improtant role for those species which are not doing well under any sort of fisheries management system. In reef MPAs can become more valued for divers due to increase in abundance, size and diversity of reef associated fish species (Williams and Polunin, 2000). It also recover the stocks of different species and ecosytem functioning within the area. Another important role is reducing or eliminating fishing mortality. Coral reef fish also based on increases in fish density and size (Russ, 2002). The size of MPA depends upon the goal and ecology of the relevant species. Smaller MPAs provide local fisheries benefits and larger MPAs provide more regional benefits through larval production and recruitment (Robert, 2000). Conclusion: MPAs are not the best solution for fisheries management but its a useful tools for preservation and enhancement for certain critical habitats, but in specific condition MPAs may be benifited for commercial mobil species (Defra, 2006). Last three decades MPAs used as a management framework for coral reef conservation but rarely achieved their goals due to lack of regulation enforcement. From the 1300 MPAs management only 383 MPAs are effective which is only 29% (Russ, 1999). Among the parks only 9% are high management level that generally achieves their management objectives (McClanahan, 1999) and only 660 MPAs contained coral reefs by 2000 (Spalding, 2001). Sometimes the design and the implimentation of MPAs differ between developed and non-developed countries, because people much more dependent on resource exploitation. In most cases community involvement and support during MPA establishment are most important for MPA success (ISRS, 2004). Referrence: ISRS (2004) Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Management of Coral Reefs. Briefing Paper 1, International Society for Reef Studies, pp: 13. Anon. (1990). Environmental Management Plan of the Seychelles 1990-2000. Department of Environment, Government of Seychelles, Mah6, Seychelles. B. Dirk, B. Lauretta et al. (1998) A Map-Based Indicator of Threates to the Worlds Coral Reefs, Reefs at Risk, ISBN: 1-55963-257-4. Bohnsack, J. A. (Plan Development Team) (1990). The potential of marine fishery reserves for reef fish management in the US southern Atlantic. NOAA Tech. Mem,, C. Wilkinson, Editor,  Status of coral reefs of the world: 1998, Australian Institute of Marine Science, Cape Ferguson, Queensland, Australia (1998). Chapman MR, Kramer DL (2000) Movement of fishes within and among fringing coral reefs in Barbados. Environmental Biology of Fishes 57:11-24. Clark, J. R., Causey, B. Bohnsack, J. A. (1989). Benefits from coral reef protection: Looe Key Reef, Florida. In Coastal Zone 89, ed. O. T. Magoon, H. Converse, D. Miner, L. T. Tobin D. Clark. American Society of Civil Engineers, New York, pp. 3076-86. D.W. Souter and O. Linden, The health and future of coral reef systems,  Ocean Coastal Management  43  (2000), pp. 657-688. Davies CR (1995) Patterns of movement of three species of coral reef fish on the Great Barrier Reef. Ph.D. diss., James Cook University of North Queensland, Townsville, Australia. 212p. Defra, 2006, W:fishsciencepdfMPAs Brief Summary of Conclusions from 3 reports for Web.doc. The potential role of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) for fisheries management purposes: Fisheries Directorates summary of the main conclusions emerging from three desk studies. Doherty PJ, Williams DM (1988) The replenishment of coral-reef fish populations. Oceanography and Marine Biology 26: 487-551. Don McAllister, Status of the World Ocean and Its Biodiversity, Sea Wind 9, no. 4 (1995), 14. Gell FR, Roberts CM (2003) Benefits beyond boundaries: the fishery effects of marine reserves. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 18: 448-455. Grigg RW, Polovina JJ, Atkinson MJ (1984) Model of a coral reef ecosystem III. Resource limitation, community regulation, fisheries yield and resource management. Coral Reefs 3: 23-27. Jennings, S. 2009. The role of marine protected areas in environmental management. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 16-21. Kelleher, G., C. Bleakley, and S. Wells, editors. 1995. A global representative system of marine protected areas.Volume Great Barrier Reef Marine Authority, World Bank, and World Conservation Union (IUCN). Environment Department, World Bank, Washington, D.C., USA. McClanahan TR. Is there a future for coral reef parks in poor tropical countries?. Coral Reefs 1999;18:321-5. McManus JW. Tropical marine fisheries and the future of coral reefs: a brief review with emphasis on Southeast Asia. Coral Reefs 1997;16S:S121-7. Meekan MG, Ackerman JL, Wellington GM (2001) Demography and age structures of coral reef damselfishes in the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean. Marine Ecology Progress Series 212: 223-232. Mumby PJ, Edwards AJ, Arias-Ganzalez JE, Lindeman KC, Blackwell PG, Gall A, Gorczynska MI, Harborne AR, Pescod CL, Renken H, Wabnitz CCC, Llewellyn G (2004) Mangroves enhance the biomass of coral reef fish communities in the Caribbean. Nature 427: 533-536. Nagelkerken I, Roberts CM, van der Velde G, Dorenbosch M, van Riel MC, de la Morinere EC, Nienhuis PH (2002) How important are mangroves and seagrass beds for coral-reef fish? The nursery hypothesis tested on an island scale. Marine Ecology Progress Series 244: 299-305. Newman SJ, Williams D.McB, Russ GR (1996) Age validation, growth, and mortality rates of the tropical snappers (Pisces: Lutjanidae) Lutjanus adetii (Castelnau, 1873) and L. quinquelineatus (Bloch, 1790) from the central Great Barrier Reef. Fishery Bulletin 94:313-329. NMFS-SEFC-261, 1-40. Polunin NVC (2002) Marine protected areas, fish and fisheries. In: Hart PJB, Reynolds JC (eds) Handbook of Fish and Fisheries, Volume II, Blackwell, Oxford. pp: 293-318 Polunin, N. V. C. (1990). Marine regulated areas: an expanded approach for the tropics. Res. Manage. Optim., 7, 283-99. Rowley, R. J. (1994). Marine reserves in fisheries management. Aquat. Conserv., 4, 233-54. Russ GR (2002) Yet another review of marine reserves as reef fisheries management tools. In: Sale PF (ed) Coral Reef Fishes: Dynamics and Diversity in a Complex Ecosystem, Academic Press, San Diego. pp: 421-443 Russ GR, Alcala AC. Management histories of Sumilon and Apo Marine Reserves, Philippines, and their influence on National Marine Resource Policy. Coral Reefs 1999;18:307-19. Saim, R. V. Kenchington, R. A. (1984). The need for management. In Coral reef management handbook, ed. R. A. Kenchington B. E. T. Hudson. UNESCO, Jakarta, pp. 9-13. Saim, R. V. Kenchington, R. A. (1984). The need for management. In Coral reef management handbook, ed. R. A. Kenchington B. E. T. Hudson. UNESCO, Jakarta, pp. 9-13. Smith, S. V. (1978). Coral-reef area and the contributions of reef processes and resources to the worlds oceans. Nature Lond., 273, 225-6. Smith, S. V. (1978). Coral-reef area and the contributions of reef processes and resources to the worlds oceans. Nature Lond., 273, 225-6. Spalding MD, Ravilious C, Green EP. World atlas of coral reefs. Berkeley, California: University of California Press; 2001. Steven M. Thur(2008), User fees as sustainablefinancing mechanisms for marine protected areas: An application to the Bonaire National Marine Park; Marine Policy, Vol. 34, Issue 1, Jan10, pp 63-69. Williams ID, Polunin NVC (2000) Differences between protected and unprotected reefs of the western Caribbean in attributes preferred by dive tourists. Environmental Conservation 27: 382-391. Roberts, C.M. 2000. Biophysical Design of Marine Protected Areas. Paper presented at the 9th International Coral Reef Symposium, October 23-27, 2000, Bali, Indonesia. Reefs at Risk: A Map-Based Indicator of Threats to the Worlds Coral Reefs

Explain how Golding establishes the main themes of The Spire through his portrayal of Jocelin in the first five chapters of The Spire

The bent and twisted hunchback Jocelin is the cornerstone for interpreting and bringing forth the multitude of interesting themes within the novel. Through Golding's experience of World War II, he established many scathing criticisms of humanity in his literature. In The Spire this is represented by the character of Jocelin, a Dean of a nameless cathedral obsessed with the vision of erecting a four-hundred foot spire. Jocelin is the penultimate antihero, the introduction of the story tells us how â€Å"He was laughing chin up, and shaking his head. God the father was exploding in his face. † It defies the expectations of what context a Dean would place God into, especially in humour, so very early on into this novel are these very slight and gentle implications of corruption, this is also exacerbated when the slight phallic pun of â€Å"Eighteen inches† is joked by Golding, and we get a sense of†¦ â€Å"expecting the reverse† in the chapters to come. Jocelin later lustfully examines Goody Pangall, what is interesting to note is to note is how Jocelin refers to her while looking at her, he mentions her only as â€Å"Pangall's wife† which is incredibly reminiscent of Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men where the female of the story is only referred to as â€Å"Curley's wife† and her actual name is not specified, names are quite symbolic in terms of how much value the other characters revere her, and over here in The Spire, Jocelin only seems to associate her as a nameless object, devoid of human definition. When you take away the name of the character, you disassociate that character from the main frame of other characters who actually do have names, and Jocelin plays up further on this, â€Å"She is entirely woman, he thought, loving her;† shows also his frame of mind early on, his definition of the characters is placed onto a spectrum, with women this is shown as either â€Å"Girl† or â€Å"Entirely woman†, this then can be taken further to show how Jocelin categorises people around him according to how much pleasure and pain they cause him. The presentation of Jocelin up to this point is a sexually repressed Dean, and we have the theme of obsession rising for the first time, however expressed in a Freudian shell that Jocelin's initial sexual innuendos of The Spire is in reality, behaviour stemming from his sexual repression of Goody Pangall. This is just one of many forms of Jocelin's twisted obsession, and that his obsessive thoughts is expressed in many facets of his metaphoric ideology and associations of events and people in the cathedral Golding portrays this shapeshifting obsessive compulsive behaviour in the actual narrative of the story as well, there is a constant shift of narrative within the novel, between Third person and First person, â€Å"Then he dared to think again, in the warmth at his back†¦.. It is my guardian angel,† the narrative is unstable, much rather like the mindset of Jocelin himself, and also implies that Jocelin may interpret and view himself in Third person while in his mind, since the form of the narrative is shapeshifting from several perspectives to another, and also occasional parenthesis â€Å"and two men posed so centrally in the sundust with their crows (and what a quarry noise and echo as they lever up the slab and let it back),† to indicate more First person narrative but in a more personal and reflective manner, and its through this First person narrative that we can note the use of archaic language, † I do Thy work; and Thou hast sent Thy messenger to comfort me,† this shows us the biblical self highlighting of Jocelin to make himself seem more important than he really is. Almost, justifying his work of the spire by expelling all qualms. Another frequent theme that Golding has presented in The Spire is immaturity and the role of childhood in the motivations of character. â€Å"to think how the mind touches all things with law, yet decieves itself as easily as a child,† Childhood here represents stupidity, and its from the immaturity of our actions that cause us to do stupid things, Jocelin touches upon this when examining Goody Pangall, â€Å"She is entirely woman, he thought, loving her; and this is foolish, this childish curiosity shows it. † surprisingly this is the rare times where we see Jocelin refuting himself rather than justifying himself. Its also worth noting that this is not the first time that Golding has used children to carry his critique of humanity, in Lord of the Flies we are shown the adult behaviour's and faults reflected in children, Golding uses this as a metonym to describe that the entire faults of human behaviour are the attempts to recreate childhood and to be free from responsibility, that we give birth to the belief that anything is possible and everything is allowed. When the ground underneath the â€Å"Pit† starts moving, and later on in the book when the stone of the tower starts â€Å"singing†, Jocelin has brought the cathedral to such a position by allowing and justifying every absurd suggestion. Its this very childish frame of thought which sets his imagination loose and Jocelin believes he is comforted by â€Å"an angel sent from God† yet ironically this is only the burning sensation of his spine by tuberculosis, this is an important metaphor, since it conveys the theme of the corrupting tendency of arrogance, that Jocelin's own arrogance is the cause for his own physical deformation is a very powerful axiom that Golding relays, since Golding's seeming objectives behind his work are to tell the story of humanities own arrogance by glorifying the evil of his characters in his literature, incredibly similar to John Milton's Poem Paradise Lost where the evil of Satan is intensified by his devious and intelligent planning, is similarly reflected in Jocelin, where his evil is intensified by his metaphoric interpretations of events and arrogance, ironically arrogance was the sin of Satan himself, even more so that Jocelin is supposedly a religious Dean of a cathedral. The main characteristics of Jocelin so far are, a hungry curiosity for women and sex, Self glorification, Childish immaturity, farfetched imagination which creates a metaphorical perception, and arrogance. These are essentially ramifications of one main theme so far, the notion of Escapism. Through these acts and mindframes Jocelin creates an alternate world to ignore the current reality, the idea of escaping or rather creating, in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Victor creates the creature as a trophy almost to credit his own scientific intellectualism, and Jocelin's view of his seperate reality is still incomplete, and he feels he needs to create The Spire to serve as a metaphor for his seeming â€Å"closeness† to God, â€Å"I am about my father's business,† it almost seems that some part of Jocelin's twisted psyche is not fully dedicated to his dream, and this is perhaps the flaw in Escapism that Golding tries to present, more implied that if Jocelin represents the extreme borderline of human naivety, how can the rest of humanity practice Escapism when it clearly does not work for the rather vacuous Jocelin? In Jocelin's insensitivity to the truth, we find his sensitivity for lies. In the bigger picture we find Jocelin's hunger for power â€Å"I never guessed in my folly that there would be a new lesson and every level, and a new power† and that building a path or a tower to God, will imbue you with the power of God, and with his treatment of other characters, for instance Roger Mason, he tries to invite Roger Mason further into the messianic visions of the spire, â€Å"God revealed it to me, his unprofitable servant. † claiming these own visions as his own, and more relatively, attempting the to grasp the power of God in his own spindly hands. That is not the holiest prophecy; that is the most devious heresy. Its through Jocelin's arrogance does the issue or theme of pride arise, Its when we place ourselves above other people and see ourselves as higher, that we try to recreate our image into some sort of powerful deity or demigod which cannot be dominated, which Golding has shown to have a very ironic sense of humour by using Jocelin to represent religion; the very thing expected to fight pride, becomes the very thing to personify it. Perhaps its inevitable to become the thing you pretend to be. The ultimate Theme of this book is humanity, Golding's written account of the faults in humanity is found clearly in The Spire through Jocelin, its only through relating to Jocelin, and placing ourselves within his persona, can we really understand him deeply The biggest point however, is that when you explain behaviour and people by relating it to yourself, you can no longer hate them or fear them, you will always respect them neutrally, because you can always find the same desires in your own h eart.

Biography of James Buchanan, 15th U.S. President

James Buchanan (April 23, 1791–June 1, 1868) served as Americas 15th president. He presided over the contentious pre-Civil War era and was considered a hopeful and strong choice by the Democrats when he was elected. But when he left office, seven states had already seceded from the union. Buchanan is often perceived as one of the worst U.S. presidents. Fast Facts: James Buchanan Known For: 15th U.S. president (1856–1860)Born: April 23, 1791 in Cove Gap, PennsylvaniaParents: James Buchanan, Sr. and Elizabeth SpeerDied: June 1, 1868 in Lancaster, PennsylvaniaEducation: Old Stone Academy, Dickinson College, legal apprenticeship and admitted to the bar in 1812Spouse: NoneChildren: None Early Life James Buchanan was born on April 23, 1791, in Stony Batter, Cove Gap, Pennsylvania, and his family moved when he was 5 to the town of Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. He was the second and oldest surviving son of the 11 children of James Buchanan Sr., a wealthy merchant and farmer, and his wife Elizabeth Speer, a well-read and intelligent woman. The senior Buchanan was an immigrant from County Donegal, Ireland, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1783, moving to Stony Batter (batter means road in Gaelic) in 1787. He moved the family several times over the next few years, buying up real estate and establishing a store in Mercersburg and becoming the wealthiest man in town. James Buchanan, Jr. was the focus of his fathers aspirations. James, Jr. studied at Old Stone Academy, where he read Latin and Greek, and learned mathematics, literature, and history. In 1807, he entered Dickenson College but was expelled for bad behavior in 1808. Only the intervention of his Presbyterian minister got him reinstated, but he did graduate with honors in 1810. He then studied law as an apprentice to the eminent lawyer James Clemens Hopkins (1762–1834) in Lancaster, and was admitted to the bar in 1812. Buchanan never married, although he was considered Lancasters most eligible bachelor as a young man. He got engaged in 1819 to Lancastrian Anne Caroline Coleman, but she died that same year before they wed. While president, his niece Harriet Lane took care of the duties of first lady. He never fathered any children. Career Before the Presidency By the time he was elected president, James Buchanan was an experienced politician and diplomat, one of the most experienced of individuals ever chosen to be president of the United States. Buchanan started his career as a lawyer before joining the military to fight in the War of 1812. While still in his 20s, he was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (1815–1816), followed by the U.S. House of Representatives (1821–1831). In 1832, he was appointed by Andrew Jackson to be the Minister to Russia. He returned home to be a senator from 1834–1835. In 1845, he was named secretary of state under President James K. Polk. In 1853–1856, he served as President Franklin Pierces minister to Great Britain. Buchanan was highly esteemed in the Democratic Party: both Polk and his predecessor in the White House John Tyler had offered him a seat on the Supreme Court, and he was proposed for high appointments by every Democratic president from the 1820s onward. He explored running for the presidential nomination in 1840 and became a serious contender in 1848 and again in 1852. Becoming President In short, James Buchanan was considered an outstanding choice for president, with an extensive dossier of national and international service who believed he could resolve the cultural divide created by the slavery issue and bring harmony to the nation. In 1856, James Buchanan was chosen as the Democratic nominee for president, running on a ticket that upheld the right of individuals to hold slaves as constitutional. He ran against Republican candidate John C. Fremont and Know-Nothing Candidate, former President Millard Fillmore. Buchanan won after a hotly contested campaign amid Democratic concerns that the threat of Civil War loomed if the Republicans won. Presidency Despite his promising background, Buchanans presidency was riddled with political missteps and misfortunes that he was unable to alleviate. The  Dred Scott  court case occurred at the beginning of his administration, the decision of which stated that slaves were considered property. Despite being against slavery himself, Buchanan felt that this case proved the constitutionality of slavery. He fought for Kansas to be entered into the union as a slave state but it was eventually admitted as a free state in 1861. In 1857, an  economic depression  swept the country known as the Panic of 1857, driven by the collapse of the New York Stock Exchange on August 27 from a rush to unload securities. The North and West were particularly hard-hit, but Buchanan took no action to help alleviate the depression. In June 1860, Buchanan vetoed the Homestead Act, which offered 160-acre plots of federal land in the west to small farmers and homesteaders. Buchanan interpreted it as a Republican effort to reactivate the slavery issue: he and the southern Democratic states felt that the addition of thousands of small farmers would upset the political balance of slave states and free states. That decision was very unpopular across the country and is considered one of the main reasons the Republicans took the White House in 1860: the Homestead Act passed in 1862 after the South seceded. By reelection time, Buchanan had decided not to run again. He knew he had lost support and was unable to stop the problems that would lead to secession. In November 1860, Republican  Abraham Lincoln  was elected to the presidency, and before Buchanan had left office, seven states seceded from the Union, forming the Confederate States of America. Buchanan did not believe that the federal government could force a state to remain in the Union, and, afraid of civil war, he ignored aggressive action by the Confederate States and abandoned Fort Sumter. Buchanan left the presidency in disgrace, condemned by Republicans, vilified by northern Democrats, and dismissed by the southerners. He is considered by many scholars as an abysmal failure as chief executive. Death and Legacy Buchanan retired to Lancaster, Pennsylvania where he was not involved in public affairs. He supported Abraham Lincoln throughout the Civil War. He worked on an autobiography that would vindicate him for his failures, a book he never finished. On June 1, 1868, Buchanan died of pneumonia; the official biography including the fragment was published as a two-volume biography by George Ticknor Curtis in 1883. Buchanan was the last pre-Civil War president. His time in office was full of handling increasingly contentious sectionalism of the time. The Confederate States of America was created while he was the lame duck president. He did not take an aggressive stance against the states that seceded and instead attempted reconciliation without war. Sources Baker, Jean H. James Buchanan: The American Presidents Series: The 15th President, 1857–1861. New York, Henry Holt and Company, 2004.Binder, Frederick Moore. James Buchanan and the American Empire.  Curtis, George Ticknor. Life of James Buchanan. New York: Harper Brothers, 1883.Klein, Philip Shriver. President James Buchanan: A Biography. Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1962.Smith, Elbert B. The Presidency of James Buchanan. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1975.