Chapter 15

[Footnote: John C. Calhoun and Robert Y. Hayne were the prominent advocates of the doctrine of "State rights," which declared that a State could set aside an act of Congress. During this struggle occurred the memorable debate between Webster and Hayne, in which the former, opposing secession, pronounced those words familiar to every school-boy, "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable." Calhoun's public life extended over forty years. He was one of the most celebrated statesmen of his time. As a speaker he was noted for forcible logic, clear demonstration, and earnest manner. He rejected ornament, and rarely used illustration. Webster, his political antagonist, said of him, "He had the indisputable basis of all high character, unspotted integrity, and honor unimpeached. Nothing grovelling, low, or meanly selfish came near his head or his heart."]

In the mean time Henry Clay's celebrated "Compromise Bill" was adopted by the Senate. This measure offering a gradual reduction of the tariff, was accepted by both sides and quiet restored.

[Footnote: Alexander H. Stephens says: "To do this, Clay had to break from his old political friends, while he was offering up the darling system of his heart on the altar of his country. No one can deny that he was a patriot--every inch of him. When he was importuned not to take the course he did, and assured that it would lessen his chances for the Presidency, he nobly replied, 'I would rather be right than President'--a sentiment worthy to be the motto of every young patriot in our land."]

_Bank of the United States_.--During his first term, Jackson vetoed a bill renewing the charter of the United States Bank. After his re-election by an overwhelming majority, considering his policy sustained by the people, he ordered (1833) the public money to be removed from its vaults. The bank thereupon contracted its loans, money became scarce, and people being unable to pay their debts, commercial distress ensued. Jackson's measure excited violent clamor, but he was sustained by the democratic majority in the House of Representatives.

_Speculations_.--When the public money, which had been withdrawn from the Bank of the United States, was deposited in the local banks, it became easy to borrow money. Speculation extended to every branch of trade but especially to western lands. New cities were laid out in the wilderness. Fabulous prices were charged for building lots, which existed only on paper. Scarcely a man could be found who had not his pet project for realizing a fortune. The bitter fruits of these hot- house schemes were gathered in Van Buren's time.

_Indian Troubles_. 1. broke out in the Northwest Territory (1832). The Sacs and Foxes had some time before sold their lands to the United States, but when the settlers came to take possession, the Indians refused to leave. After some skirmishes they were driven off, and their leader, the famous Black Hawk, was captured. 2. _THE FLORIDA WAR_ (1835) with the Seminoles grew out of an attempt to remove them, in accordance with a treaty, to lands west of the Mississippi. Osceola, the chief of the Seminoles, was so defiant, that General Thompson, the government agent, put him in irons. Dissembling his wrath, Osceola consented to the treaty. But no sooner was he released than, burning with indignation, he plotted a general massacre of the whites. General Thompson was shot and scalped while sitting at dinner, under the very guns ol Fort King. The same day Major Dade, with over one hundred men, was waylaid near the _Wahoo Swamp_. All but four were killed, and these afterward died of their wounds.

[Footnote: Osceola, in October, 1837, visited the camp of General Jessup, under a flag of truce. He was there seized and sent to Fort Moultrie, where he died the following year.]

After several battles the Indians retreated to the everglades of southern Florida, in whose tangled swamps they hoped to find a safe retreat. They were, however, pursued into their hiding-places by Colonel Taylor, and beaten in a hard-fought battle (Okechobee, Dec. 25, 1837), but were not fully subdued until 1842.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS.--_France._--The French government had promised to pay $5,000,000 for damages to our commerce during Napoleon's wars. This agreement not being kept, Jackson urged Congress to make reprisals on French ships. The mediation of England secured the payment of the debt by France, and thus averted the threatened war.

POLITICAL PARTIES.--The democratic candidate, Martin Van Buren, was chosen President. The people thus supported the policy of Jackson--no United States Bank and no Protective Tariff. General Harrison was the whig candidate.

[Footnote: No Vice-President being chosen by the people, Colonel R. M. Johnson was selected by the Senate. ]

VAN BUREN'S ADMINISTRATION

[Footnote: Martin Van Buren was born 1782; died 1862. He early took an interest in politics, and in 1818 started a new organization of the democratic party of New York, his native State, which had the power for over twenty years. In 1831 he was appointed minister to England, whither he went in September, but when the nomination came before the Senate in December, it was rejected, on the ground that he had sided with England against the United States, on certain matters, and had carried party contests and their results into foreign negotiations. His party regarded this as extreme political persecution, and the next year elected him to the Vice-Presidency. He thus became the head of the Senate which a few months before condemned him, and where he now performed his duties with "dignity, courtesy, and impartiality." ]

(EIGHTH PRESIDENT: 1837-1841.)

DOMESTIC AFFAIRS.--_Crisis of_ 1837.--The financial storm which had been gathering through the preceding administration, now burst with terrible fury. The banks contracted their circulation. Business men could not pay their debts. Failures were every-day occurrences, and the losses in New York city alone, during March and April, exceeded $100,000,000. Property of all kinds declined in value. Eight of the States failed, wholly or in part. Even the United States government could not pay its debts. Consternation seized upon all classes. Confidence was destroyed, and trade stood still.

[Footnote: As a President, Van Buren was the subject of much partisan censure. The country was passing through a peculiar crisis, and his was a difficult position to fill with satisfaction to all. That he pleased his own party is proved from the fact of his re-nomination in 1840 against Harrison. In 1848 he became the candidate of the "free democracy," a new party advocating anti-slavery principles. After this he retired to his estate in Kinderhook, N. Y, where he died.]

[Footnote: The direct causes of this were (1) the specie circular, which was issued by Jackson in 1836, just at the close of his last term, directing that payments for public lands should be made in gold and silver. The gold and silver was soon gathered into the United States treasury. (2) The surplus public money, amounting to about $28,000,000, which was ordered by Congress to be withdrawn from the local banks and distributed among the States. The banks could not meet the demand. (3) During the season of high prices and speculation, when fortunes were easily made, there had been heavy importations of European goods, which had to be paid for in gold and silver. Thus the country was drained of its specie. (4) A terrible fire in the city of New York on the night of Dec. 16, 1835, which had burned 600 valuable stores, and property to the amount of $18,000,000.]

[Footnote: At the present time the public money is kept in the United States treasury at Washington, and in sub-treasuries. This was Van Buren's favorite idea, and only adopted by Congress at the close of his term. It was called the Sub-Treasury Bill, and was used as a great argument againbt Van Buren's re-election. It was repealed during Tyler's administration, but re-enacted under Polk.]

Foreign Affairs.-_The "Patriot War" _(1837-8).--The Canadian rebellion against England, at this time, stirred the sympathies of the American people. Meetings were held, volunteers offered, and arms contributed. The President issued a proclamation refusing the protection of the United States government to any who should aid the Canadians, and sent General Scott to the frontier to preserve the peace.

[Footnote: A body of American sympathizers having taken possession of Navy Island in Niagara River, had hired a steamer, called the Caroline, to convey their provisions and war materials. On the night of December 29, 1837, a party of British troops attempted to seize this vessel at Schlosser. A desperate fight ensued; but the ship was, at last, set on fire and left to drift over the Falls. This event caused great excitement at the time.]

_The Northeast Boundary_ between Maine and New Bruns--wick had never been settled. The people of that region threatened to take up arms to support their respective claims. For some time there was great peril of a war with England. During Tyler's administration the difficulty was adjusted by what is known as the Ashburton treaty (1842), which was negotiated between the United States and Great Britain; Daniel Webster and Lord Ashburton acting as commissioners.

POLITICAL PARTIES.--The financial difficulties caused a change in political feeling, and for the time weakened the confidence of the people in the wisdom of the democratic policy. Van Buren failed of a re-election, and General Harrison, the hero of Tippecanoe, the whig nominee, was chosen President by an immense majority.

* * * * *

HARRISON AND TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION.

[Footnote: William Henry Harrison was born in 1773; died 1841 He distinguished himself during the war of 1812, especially in the battle of the Thames. His military reputation made him available as a Presidential candidate. His character was unimpeachable, and the chief slur cast upon him by his opponent was that he had lived in a "log cabin" with nothing to drink but "hard cider." His friends turned this to good account. The campaign was noted for immense mass-meetings, long processions, song-singing, and great enthusiasm. "Hard cider" became a party watch-word, and "log cabins" a regular feature in the popular parades. Harrison was elected by a large majority, and great hopes were entertained of his administration. Though advanced in years, he gave promise of endurance. But "he was beset by office-seekers; he was anxious to gratify the numerous friends and supporters who flocked about him; he gave himself incessantly to public business; and at the close of the month he was on a sick-bed." His illness was of eight-days duration. His last words were, "The principles of the government; I wish them carried out. I ask nothing more."

John Tyler was born 1790; died 1862. He was in early life a great admirer of Henry Clay, and is said to have wept with sorrow when the whigs in convention rejected his favorite candidate for the Presidency, and selected Harrison. He was nominated Vice-President by a unanimous vote, and was a great favorite with his party. In the popular refrain, "Tippecanoe and Tyler too," the people sung praises to him as heartily as to Harrison himself. The death of Harrison and the succession of Tyler, was the first instance of the kind in our history.

Tyler's administration was not successful. He opposed the measures of his party, and made free use of the veto power. His former political friends denounced him as a renegade, to which he replied that he had never professed to endorse the measures which he opposed. The feeling increased in bitterness, and all his cabinet finally resigned. He was, however, nominated for the next Presidency by a convention composed chiefly of office-holders; he accepted, but finding no popular support, soon withdrew. In 1861 he became the presiding officer of the peace convention in Washington. All efforts at reconciliation proving futile, he renounced his allegiance to the United States and followed the Confederate fortunes. He died in Richmond where he was in attendance as a member of the Confederate Congress.]

(NINTH AND TENTH PRESIDENTS: 1841-1845.)

General Harrison had scarcely entered upon the duties of his office and selected his cabinet, when he died. John Tyler, the Vice-President, in accordance with the Constitution of the United States, became President. He was elected as a whig, but did not carry out the favorite measures of his party.

DOMESTIC AFFAIRS.--_United States Bank_.--The whigs, immediately upon coming into power, passed a bill to establish a United States Bank, but it was vetoed by Tyler, to the great disgust of the men who had elected him.

_The Suffrage Difficulties_, commonly known as "Dorr's Rebellion," grew out of efforts to secure a more liberal constitution in the State of Rhode Island. The charter granted by Charles II was still in force. It limited the right of suffrage to those holding a certain amount of property, and fixed very unequally the number of deputies in the Assembly from the different towns. In 1841, a new constitution was adopted, the vote being taken in mass conventions, and not by the legal voters, according to the charter. Under this constitution, T. W. Dorr was elected governor. The old government still went on, treating his election as illegal. He attempted to seize the State arsenal, but, finding it held by the militia, gave up the attempt. Dorr was afterward arrested, convicted of treason, and sentenced to imprisonment for life; but was finally pardoned. Meanwhile, a liberal constitution having been legally adopted, went into operation (1843).

_Anti-Rent Difficulties_ (1844).--The tenants on some of the old "patroon" estates in New York refused to pay the rent. It was very light, but was considered illegal. The anti-renters, as they were called, assumed the disguise of Indians, tarred and feathered those tenants who paid their rents, and even killed officers who served warrants upon them. The disturbances were suppressed only by a military force (1846).

[Footnote: The rent consisted of only "a few bushels of wheat, three or four fat fowls, and a day's work with horses and wagon, per year,"]

_The Mormons._--A religious sect called Mormons had settled at Nauvoo, Ill. (1840). Here they had built a city of several thousand inhabitants, and laid the foundation of a costly temple. Having incurred the enmity of the people about them, their leader, Joseph Smith, was taken from the custody of the authorities, to whom he had entrusted himself, and killed. A mob bombarded the city for three days, and finally (September, 1845) drove out the inhabitants, who fled to Iowa.

[Footnote: Joseph Smith, while living at Palmyra, N. Y., claimed to have had a supernatural revelation, by which he was directed to a spot where he found buried a series of golden plates covered with inscriptions, which he translated by means of two transparent stones (Urim and Thummim) found with them. The result was the Book of Mormon, said to be the history of a race favored by God, who occupied this continent at a remote period of antiquity. The Mormons accept the Holy Bible as received by all Christian people, but believe the Book of Mormon to be an additional revelation, and also that their chief or prophet receives direct inspiration from God. They practice plural marriage, or polygamy, claiming that the Scriptures justify, while one of their revelations directly commands it. After the death of Smith and their expulsion from Nauvoo, a company under the leadership of Brigham Young crossed the Rocky Mountains, and settled near Great Salt Lake, in Utah. They were followed by others of their sect, and, after great sufferings, succeeded in subduing the barren soil, and establishing a prosperous colony. They founded Salt Lake City, where they erected a large temple for worship. Their prophet, Brigham Young, who died August 19, 1877, is still remembered by his followers with the greatest reverence.]

Foreign Affairs.-_Annexation of Texas_.-The Texans, under General Sam. Houston, having won their independence from Mexico, applied (April, 1844) for admission into the Union. Their petition was at first rejected by Congress, but being endorsed by the people in the fall elections, it was accepted before the close of Tyler's administration.

[Footnote: There were two reasons why this measure was warmly discussed--(1). Mexico claimed Texas, although that country had maintained its independence for nine years, and had been recognized by several European nations as well as by the United States. Besides, Texas claimed the Rio Grande (reo-granday), while Mexico insisted upon the Nueces (nway-ses) River as the boundary line between Texas and Mexico. The section of country between these rivers was therefore disputed territory. Thus the annexation of Texas would bring on a war with Mexico. (2). Texas held slaves. Thus, while the South urged its admission, the North as strongly opposed it.]

_Northwest Boundary_.-The northeast boundary question had scarcely been settled, when the northwest boundary came into dispute. It was settled during Polk's administration, by compromise, fixing the boundary line at 49 degrees instead of 54 degrees 40 minutes as claimed by the United States.

POLITICAL PARTIES.--The question of the annexation of Texas went before the people for their decision. The democrats, who favored its admission, nominated James K. Polk, who, after a close contest, was elected President. The whigs, who opposed its admission, had nominated Henry Clay.

[Footnote: The announcement of Polk's nomination was the first news ever sent by magnetic telegraph. It was transmitted from Baltimore to Washington, May 29 1844 over a line built with $30,000 appropriated by Congress to test Professor Morse's invention This was the grandest event of this administration and it had largely influenced the civilization and prosperity of the country. Thus the steamboat and the magnetic telegraph were the first fruits of American liberty and industry (Read Barnes's Popular History of the United States pp. 360 and 442)]

[Footnote: Henry Clay was a man whom the nation loved, but signally failed to honor. Yet his fame and reputation remain far above any distinction which mere office can give, and unite with them an affection which stands the test of time. Respected by his opponents he was almost idolized by his friends. In this he somewhat resembled Jefferson, but, unlike him, he had not in his early years the advantages of a liberal education. His father, a Baptist minister of very limited means, died when Henry was five years old and at fifteen he was left to support himself. Meantime he had received what little tuition he had, in a log-cabin school house from very indifferent teachers. With a rare tact for making friends, ready talent waiting to be instructed, and a strong determination seeking opportunities, he soon began to show the dawnings of the power which afterward distinguished him. He said, "I owe my success in life to one single fact, namely that at an early age I commenced, and continued for some years, the practice of daily reading and speaking the contents of some historical or scientific book. These off-hand efforts were sometimes made in a corn field, at others, in the forest, and not unfrequently in some distant barn, with the horse and ox for my only auditors. It is to this that I am indebted for the impulses that have shaped and molded my entire destiny." Rising rapidly by the force of his genius, he soon made himself felt in his State and in the nation. He was peculiarly winning in his manners. An eminent and stern political antagonist once refused an introduction to him expressly on the ground of a determination not to be magnetized by personal contact as he "had known other good haters" of Clay to be "United with this suavity was a wonderful will and an inflexible honor." His political adversary but personal admirer John C. Breckenridge, in an oration pronounced at his death, uttered these words--"If I were to write his epitaph I would inscribe as the highest eulogy on the stone which shall mark his resting place 'Here lies a man who was in the public service for fifty years, and never attempted to deceive his countrymen.'"]

JAMES K. POLK'S ADMINISTRATION.

[Footnote: James K. Polk was born 1795; died 1849. He was one of the most conspicuous opposers of the administration of J. Q. Adams, and a warm supporter of Jackson. In 1839, having served fourteen years in Congress, he declined a re-election and was chosen governor of Tennessee. His Presidential nomination, in connection with that of George M. Dallas of Pennsylvania, as Vice-President, had the effect of uniting the democratic party, which had been disturbed by dissensions between the friends and opponents of Martin Van Buren. The Mexican war, which was strongly opposed in many States, the enactment of a tariff based on a revenue principle instead of a protective one, and the agitation caused by the "Wilmot proviso" (see p. 190), all conspired to affect his popularity before the end of his term. He had, however, previously pledged himself not to be a candidate for re-election. He died about three months after his retirement from office.]

(ELEVENTH PRESIDENT: 1845-1849.)

WAR WITH MEXICO. 1846-7.

I. GENERAL TAYLOR'S ARMY.

CAMPAIGN ON THE RIO GRANDE.--General Taylor having been ordered with his troops into the disputed territory, advanced to the Rio Grande and built Fort Brown. Returning from Point Isabel, whither he had gone for supplies, on the plains of _Palo Alto_ (pah-lo ahl'-to) he met six thousand Mexicans, under General Arista (ah-rees-tah), drawn up across the road. (Map opp. p. 161.) Though they outnumbered his little army three to one, he routed them with a loss of but nine men killed. The next afternoon he met them again at _Resaca de la Palma_ (ray-sah-kah day lah pahl'-mah), posted in a deep ravine through which the road ran, flanked by thickets. Their artillery held Taylor's men in check for a time, when Captain May, charging with his cavalry in the face of a murderous fire, captured the guns, and with them their commander, General La Vega (lah-vay-gah), just in the act of firing a gun. The infantry now rushed forward and drove the enemy, who fled across the Rio Grande in utter rout.

INVASION OF MEXICO.

--_Capture of Monterey_ (Sept 24).--General Taylor, with about six thousand men, advanced upon Monterey (mon-tay-ray). This city, surrounded by mountains and almost impassable ravines, was strongly fortified, and its streets were barricaded and defended by a garrison of ten thousand men. A grand assault was made on the city. To avoid the deadly fire from the windows, roofs, and barricades, the troops entered the buildings and dug their way through the stone walls from house to house, or passed from roof to roof. They came at last within one square of the Grand Plaza, when the city was surrendered. The garrison was allowed to march out with the honors of war.

_Battle of Buena Vista_ (bway'-nah vees'-tah) (February 23, 1847).--Santa Anna, the Mexican general, learning that the flower of Taylor's command had been withdrawn to aid General Scott, determined to crush the remainder. The little American army took post at Buena Vista, a narrow mountain pass with hills on one side and a ravine on the other.