| Ante-Bellum Period, 1840-1860: Manifest Destiny and buildup to Civil War
9. William Henry Harrison, 1841, Whig; VP - John Tyler; Secretary of State - Daniel Webster 10. John Tyler, 1841-1845, Democrat ran as VP on Whig ticket; Secretary of State - Daniel Webster • “His Accidency” (first VP to ascend to presidency upon the death of a president) • Webster-Ashburton Treaty, 1842—negotiates border of Maine • Vetoes Clay's bill for 3rd Bank of the United States • Canadian Border set at 49th parallel—negotiated with England • Annexation of Texas as a slave state through joint Congressional resolution (Senate rejected Tyler’s Treaty of Annexation in 1844) at very end of Tyler’s term (after pro-annexation Polk elected) 11. James K. Polk, 1845-1849, Democrat; VP - Dallas • The Manifest Destiny President • Oregon boundary settled, 1846 (campaign slogan: 54? 40’ or fight!) • Mexican War, 1846-1848—fought over southern border of Texas, but Polk wanted California (which Mexico refused to sell ‘cause they were too ticked off) • “American Blood on American Soil”—Polk tells Congress to declare war b/c American forces were attacked by Mexico • Spot Resolutions (Whig Lincoln)—Where, exactly, was that American blood shed? • Thoreau’s essay on Civil Disobedience—argued that the war was immoral; no one should support immoral laws; don’t pay your taxes if you don’t support the government (Thoreau went to jail for one night but was bailed out by his aunt, who also paid his tax bill) • Treaty of Guadeloupe-Hidalgo, 1848—takes land from Mexico (current SW USA & California) • Wilmot Proviso during Mexican War aims to withdraw war funding if president won’t pledge that no land taken from Mexico would be used as slave territory(failed in the Senate) 12. Zachary Taylor, 1849-1850, Whig; VP - Millard Fillmore 13. Millard Fillmore, 1850-1853, Whig; Secretary of State - Daniel Webster • Compromise of 1850—California free, popular sovereignty in Utah and New Mexico Territories, stronger fugitive slave law, no more slave trade in DC • Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, 1850 (Britain and U. S. agree not to expand in Central America if the canal is built, neither would build canal w/o other being able to use it) • Uncle Tom's Cabin, 1852 published by Harriet Beecher Stowe in response to the stringent fugitive slave law put in place by Compromise of 1850 14. Franklin Pierce, 1853-1857, Democrat; VP - King • Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854—popular sovereignty within the Louisiana Territory (repeals Missouri Compromise) • Underground Railroad and Abolition movement pick up speed • Bleeding Kansas—Civil war over status of territory • Potawatomie Massacre (John Brown)—attack on pro-slavery settlers in Kansas • Ostend Manifesto, 1854 (secret plan to acquire Cuba from Spain and make it a slave state) • Commodore Matthew Perry--Japan opened to world trade, 1853 15. James Buchanan, 1857-1861, Democrat; VP- Breckinridge • Kansas still bleeding—Congress rejects fraudulent Lecompton Constitution (would have made Kansas slave state) • Dred Scott decision, 1857—slavery cannot be legally excluded from territories (property), slaves are not citizens and blacks (even free blacks) have no Constitutional rights that white men need respect • Hinton Helper’s The Impending Crisis of the South (1857) argues against slavery on economic grounds—it hinders the economic growth of the south and especially hurts white non-slave owners (the vast majority of whites); book is used as campaign material for Republicans • Lincoln-Douglas Debates, 1858 (Douglass’ Freeport Doctrine alienates southerners) • John Brown’s raid on arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia • Election of Lincoln (1860) on Republican platform opposing expansion of slavery into new territories provokes southern secession • Crittenden Compromise debated in Congress as SC was debating secession—compromise would have extended old 36 30’ line to California and added Constitutional amendments protecting southern slavery and compensating for runaways—Lincoln worked behind the scenes to kill the deal as it would permit the expansion of slavery. • When southern states began seceding, Buchanan did nothing Civil War, 1861-1865 and Reconstruction Era 1863-1877 16. Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865, Republican; VP - Andrew Johnson Secy of State - William H. Seward (New York); Secy of Treasury - Salmon P. Chase; Secy of War - Edwin M. Stanton • Civil War, 1861-1865 • Suspension of Habeas Corpus to reduce impact of Copperhead agitation (ex parte Merryman: Federal Circuit court ruling—with Chief Justice Roger Taney presiding—president cannot suspend habeas corpus—Lincoln ignored the ruling; Congress formally suspended HC in 1863) • Civilians in Military Courts (Supreme Court ruling in ex parte Milligan—government cannot try civilians in military courts when civilian courts are operational; ruling takes place after war is over) • Emancipation Proclamation, 1863—frees slaves in rebelling states (issued after Union victory at Antietam) • Homestead Act, 1862 –free western land to any settlers who farmed it for 5 years • Legal Tender Act (1st paper currency) • Morill Act, 1862 (created agricultural colleges funded by federal land sales) • Pacific Railway Act (federal aid to railroad companies) • Gettysburg Address: America was "conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." (ideals expressed in Declaration of Independence) • Battle of Gettysburg—July 1863—ended Lee’s invasion of the North, sometimes cited as the war’s turning point • Siege of Vicksburg—May to July 1863; Union gets control of Mississippi River, cutting south in two • Presidential Reconstruction (Amnesty/10% Plan)—a lenient program • Assassinated April 14th, 1865, by John Wilkes Booth (Copperhead from Maryland) 17. Andrew Johnson, 1865, 1869, Republican (former Democrat); Secretary of State - William H. Seward • Adoption of Black Codes in the South under Presidential Reconstruction • 13th Amendment, 1865—no slavery • 14th Amendment, 1868—citizenship for African Americans, no state can deny citizens equal protection, due process, privileges & immunities of a U.S. citizen (regardless of race or previous condition of servitude); later used by Supreme Court to apply principles of Bill of Rights to state governments (sometimes called the national supremacy amendment) • Reconstruction Act, 1867—Military Reconstruction puts south under military occupation; Command of Army act requires President to get Ulysses Grant’s approval on military decisions; passed by “Radical” Republicans • Tenure of Office Act, 1867 –president needs Senate approval to fire advisors • Impeachment Trial, 1868—acquitted by a slim margin (2/3 vote needed to convict) • Formation of KKK 18. Ulysses S. Grant, 1869-1877, Republican; VP - Colfax, Wilson; Secretary of State - Hamilton Fish • 15th Amendment, 1870—black male suffrage • Use of military to suppress KKK violence • First Transcontinental Railroad, 1869—subsidized by Federal gov’t (land grants, loans, military protection) • Tweed Ring, NYC—Democratic party political machine (Boss Tweed) • Panic of 1873—over expansion in business (mainly RRs) • Crime of ’73 (demonetization of silver; hard money supporters thought it would increase faith in American economy thereby lessening the impact of the financial panic) • Crédit Mobilier—scandal involving payola from RR companies to gov’t employees • Whiskey Ring—scandal involving payola from whiskey taxes • Democrat Redeemer governments begin to take over in the south; Republican party loses interest in protecting civil rights as “gilded age” begins. The process of complete disenfranchisement and strict Jim Crow takes about 20 years to complete. (Plessy is 1896) |