The country had recovered from the shock of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and rewarded them with Buchanan.

Would it not equally recover from the shock of the Lecompton Constitution?
It was precisely at this point that the bent bow broke.

The great bulk of the Democratic party followed the President and his Southern advisers, even in this extreme step; but to a minority sufficient to turn the scale the Lecompton scandal had become too offensive for further tolerance.
In the Senate, with its heavy Democratic majority, the Administration easily secured the passage of a bill to admit Kansas with the Lecompton Constitution.

Out of eleven Democratic Senators from free States, only three--Douglas of Illinois, Broderick of California, and Stuart of Michigan--took courage to speak and vote against the measure.

In the House of Representatives, however, with a narrower margin of political power, the scheme, after an exciting discussion running through about two months, met a decisive defeat.