The Antebellum Presidents: Part 1

The AntebellumPresidents:Part 1

The Election of 1840 • Whigs nominated war hero “Old Tippecanoe,” William Henry Harrison after Henry Clay and Daniel Webster each proved too divisive to win majority support within the party • Harrison easily defeated Democratic incumbent Martin Van Buren under the slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too!”

William Henry Harrison • 1773 – 1841 • Whig • 9th President (1841) • Nicknamed “Old Tippecanoe” from his fame as a hero of the Northwest Indian War • Shortest tenure in U.S. history – president for only 32 days before dying from pneumonia

John Tyler • 1790 – 1862 • Former Governor of Virginia, as well as a Representative and Senator before being elected Vice-President • Despite being a Democrat, he chose to run with Harrison on the Whig Party ticket in the 1840 election, making him many political enemies in both parties • Became the first Vice-President to inherit the Presidency upon the death of the President while in office

Webster-Ashburton Treaty (1842) • Settled disputes between the U.S. and Britain over the border between the U.S. and Canada around Maine and Minnesota

Annexation of Texas • In 1845, Texas was finally admitted to the Union as the 28th state, just as Tyler was leaving office • Mexico was furiousover the move and broke off diplomatic relations with the U.S. • A dispute quickly arose over where the actual border was between the U.S. and Mexico; the U.S. claimed as far south as the Rio Grande, while Mexico claimed as far north as the Nueces River

A President Without a Party • Outside of the Webster-Ashburton Treaty and annexation of Texas, Tyler’s presidency was largely unsuccessful • When Tyler refused to support many Whig initiatives, they kicked him out of the party; when the Democrats refused to take him back into their party, Tyler was left unable to seek a second term • After completing Harrison’s term, Tyler retired into obscurity; he did, however, later become the only former President to join the Confederacy during the Civil War

The Election of 1844 • The Whigs nominated Henry Clay, who opposed annexing Texas because of slavery and for its potential to cause a war with Mexico • The Democrats chose to run former Governor of Tennessee James K. Polk, who openly supported annexing Texas and formally claiming Oregon, over former President Martin Van Buren who argued against annexing Texas

James K. Polk • 1795 – 1849 • 11th President (1845-49) • Democrat, Southerner (born in North Carolina and was a UNC graduate), and slave-owner • Nicknamed both “Young Hickory” (for his similarities to “Old Hickory” – Andrew Jackson) and “Napoleon of the Stump” (for his commanding public speaking skills) • Only former Speaker of the House of Representatives to become President • Made several basic promises in his campaign – he would secure Oregon and California, he would create an independent treasury, he would lower tariffs, and he would serve only one term – he kept all of these campaign promises

Polk’s Financial Achievements • Polk approved the Walker Tariff of 1846, which substantially lowered tariff rates – this made him popular in the South and West • That same year, Polk established a national treasury system for holding federal funds in federally owned treasuries, rather than in private or state banks – this effectively reversed the previous policy of President Andrew Jackson to use “pet banks” to hold federal funds and issue currency

Polk’s Cultural Achievements • Oversaw the groundbreaking for construction of the Washington Monument in 1848 • Opened the United States Naval Academy in 1845 • Authorized the U.S. Postal Service to issue postage stamps in 1847 • Approved the creation of the Smithsonian Institution in 1846 • The Washington Monument Under Construction

Polk’s Bid for California • In 1845, President Polk sent an envoy, John Slidell, to Mexico City with an offer to purchase the Mexican territory of California for $30 million • The U.S. was interested in controlling territory along the Pacific, especially the valuable port of San Francisco, which would make trade with Asia easier • The openly hostile Mexicans, angry over the annexation of Texas, refused to even meet with Slidell and the two nation’s moved towards war • John Slidell

The Mexican War (1846-48) • In response to Mexico’s refusal to receive Slidell, Polk ordered U.S. troops under the command of Gen. Zachary Taylor to secure the Texas border at the Rio Grande • Mexico considered this an invasion of Mexican territory and an act of war • The Mexican army attacked Taylor’s forces, leading the U.S. to declare war on May 13, 1846 • Gen. Zachary Taylor

The Mexican War (1846-48)

Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo • The war lasted for two very bloody years before Mexico finally surrendered after U.S. forces captured Mexico City • The two sides signed the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in February 1848 • Mexico ceded 500,000 sq. miles of territory (California, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico) • Mexico accepted Rio Grande as southern border of Texas • In return, the U.S. paid Mexico $15 million and assumed $3.25 million in debts Mexico owed to American citizens

The Mexican Cession

The Oregon Territory • The U.S. and Britain had agreed to share the Oregon Territory as part of the Convention of 1818, but by the 1840s, most of the settlers living in the region were Americans • This prompted many Americans to call for the region to become exclusively part of the U.S. • When Britain didn’t seem willing to negotiate, it led Americans to rally behind the slogan “54° 40’ or Fight!”

Annexation of Oregon • June 1846 • In the end, Britain and the U.S. peacefully resolved their dispute over where the boundary should lie between the U.S. and Canada in the Oregon Territory, splitting the region along the 49thdegree of latitude • President Polk hoped that adding the slave-free Oregon Territory would balance the addition of pro-slavery territories in Texas and the Mexican Cession

The Wilmot Proviso • The Wilmot Proviso was proposed in 1846 by Rep. David Wilmot of Pennsylvania; he argued for a complete ban on slavery in any new territories the U.S. might acquire from Mexico • Sen. John C. Calhoun of South Carolina countered that the states own U.S. territories in common and Congress holds no authority to ban slavery in the territories • The U.S. Senate refused to vote on the Wilmot Proviso, but its proposal angered slavery supporters across the South • David Wilmot

Hardening Attitudes About Slavery • John Calhoun even began to argue that slavery was not a “necessary evil” as had long been the South’s stance, but rather it was a “positive good” because white slave owners provided care for their slaves and introduced them to Christianity, thereby saving their souls • John C. Calhoun

“Popular Sovereignty” • Idea proposed by Sen. Lewis Cass of Michigan • Citizens of each new territory should be allowed to decide for themselves on whether to allow slavery there, rather than the federal government making a decision • Cass’s idea became popular because it kept Congress from having to make any decision about slavery • Lewis Cass

Split in the Whig Party • The slavery issue began to divide Whigs from the North into “Conscience Whigs” who opposed slavery and “Cotton Whigs” who supported slavery because Southern cotton fed their northern textile factories

Rise of the Free Soil Party • After pro-slavery Zachary Taylor became the Whig nominee for president in 1848, Conscience Whigs quit the Whig Party and joined themselves with northern anti-slavery Democrats • This new party was called the Free Soil Party (they opposed expanding slavery to the “free soil” of the West).

Election of 1848 • Keeping his campaign promise, Polk did not seek a second term (and, in fact, died from cholera just three months after leaving office) • Democratic candidate Lewis Cass campaigned on a platform of popular sovereignty and a promise to veto the Wilmot Proviso if it was ever passed • Free Soil candidate Martin Van Buren supported a complete ban on slavery in the new territories of the West • Whig candidate Zachary Taylor was pro-slavery, but believed to be a moderate on most other issues

Zachary Taylor • 1784 – 1850 • 12th President (1849–50) • “Old Rough and Ready” • Slave owner, but believed slavery wouldn’t work in the West because of the climate • A hero of the Mexican War, Taylor had never held an elected office before being elected president • Died in office from an intestinal illness

The Antebellum Presidents: Part 1