In many ways, Franklin Pierce’s strict adherence to the Constitution was his undoing as President. He remained committed to a nation where local decisions, in states and territories, reflecting the will of the citizenry, were the hallmark of the American Republic, not subject to the dictates of the national executive. But the United States in the 1850s was fracturing at the seams over the nation’s Original Sin (slavery) that was sanctioned in the Constitution itself. Abolitionism was on the rise in the North, and secessionism was increasingly advocated in the South. Pierce had nothing but disdain for these diametrically opposed views, continuously advocating compromise and consideration for the unique characteristics of each section of the nation. He counted on a nation of understanding brothers, not one hell-bent on “my way or the highway.” The Constitution was his ever-present guide, but it offered no workable solution to this rift which only continued to grow during his tumultuous administration. By the time Franklin Pierce had entered the White House, the nation could no longer be calmed strictly by the tenets in the Constitution. Other forces had taken over, and Pierce’s approach to governance did nothing to stop them. If anything, his administration accelerated the path to Civil War.