Читать книгу The Handy American History Answer Book - David L Hudson - Страница 13
ОглавлениеPRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS AND PRESIDENTS
What complication resulted from the election of 1800?
The problem in the election of 1800 was that Thomas Jefferson received the same number of votes as his presumed vice-presidential candidate, Aaron Burr. Both Jefferson and Burr received seventy-three votes. Because each received the same number of votes, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to determine who would serve as president. This problem led to the relatively quick passage of the Twelfth Amendment in 1804.
However, it took thirty-six ballots for the U.S. House of Representatives to break the electoral vote tie and resolve the controversy. The rules required the winner to receive an electoral margin in nine of the then existing sixteen states. In the first thirty-five ballots, Jefferson won eight states—one short of the necessary nine. Finally, on the thirty-sixth ballot, Maryland and Vermont shifted their support to Jefferson.
What was America’s involvement in the Barbary War?
Thomas Jefferson became the first president to send soldiers to fight on foreign soil when he sent troops to engage Tripoli, Libya, which had declared war on the United States. In the First Barbary War (1801–1805), America faced the so-called Barbary States, which included the Sultanate of Morocco and the Regencies of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli. Tripoli managed to capture the USS Philadelphia during the conflict, but a Marine unit secured the vessel and burned it, preventing its use by the enemy. Marines later defeated Tripoli forces in the city of Derna, Libya.
Which former political foe actively lobbied for Jefferson and against Burr?
Alexander Hamilton—Jefferson’s rival in President Washington’s administration—was not a supporter of Thomas Jefferson. But Hamilton absolutely despised Burr. Hamilton used his considerable influence among the Federalist members of the House of Representatives to swing the election in the House to Jefferson.
One of the most famous duels in American history was between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton died and Burr, though never found guilty of murder, saw his political career end as a result.
What happened to Aaron Burr?
Aaron Burr served as Thomas Jefferson’s first vice president from 1801–1805. On July 11, 1804, he killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel in Weehawken, New Jersey. When Burr learned that he would not be Jefferson’s vice president for Jefferson’s second term, Burr decided to run for the governorship of New York. Hamilton vigorously opposed Burr, whom he had also opposed in the presidential election of 1800. At the duel, Hamilton fired first, but missed. Some historians have questioned whether Hamilton actually intended to hit Burr. Whatever the case, Burr hit Hamilton in the abdomen with his shot.
Burr faced indictments in both New Jersey and New York but was never brought to trial. He moved out west, seeking to acquire land in present-day Texas. Burr was suspected of plotting to form an independent nation in the southwest part of the country. Jefferson had his former vice president arrested and charged with treason in 1807. He faced trial in Richmond, Virginia, but was acquitted of all charges. Burr left the country, traveling to England and then France. He returned to the United States and practiced law in New York until his death in 1836.
What famous land expedition did Jefferson order?
Jefferson ordered Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the western part of North America. This famous trip became known as the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Like Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis was born in Albemarle County in Virginia and served as Jefferson’s trusted White House secretary. When Jefferson discussed the idea of a western expedition, Lewis agreed to take the lead in the matter. Lewis asked Clark, a man he met while defending federal interests during the Whiskey Rebellion, to accompany him on the trip.
What was the Monroe Doctrine?
The Monroe Doctrine was a foreign policy statement announced by President James Monroe (1758–1831; fifth president, 1817–1825) during his seventh annual address to Congress delivered in December 1823. The doctrine established that the United States would not interfere with developments on the European continent but that the United States would oppose vigorously any attempt by European countries with suspicion and “as dangerous to our peace and safety.” Historians have lauded the doctrine as one of the most significant statements in the history of American foreign policy.
What was the Panic of 1819?
The Panic of 1819 was a major financial crisis marked by mortgage foreclosures, inflation, and banks recalling loans. The federal government and Monroe responded with the Land Act of 1820, which helped alleviate some of the financial pressure.
What was the Era of Good Feelings?
The Era of Good Feelings was a period from about 1816 to 1825, during which there was relative domestic and political calm. The term is often used to describe the time period of much of the Monroe presidency. Benjamin Russell, a journalist with the Boston newspaper the Columbian Centinel, coined the term after President Monroe visited the New England area to quell any sectional differences.
Who were the candidates in the presidential election of 1824?
The candidates included John Quincy Adams (1767–1848) from Massachusetts; Andrew Jackson (1767–1845) from Tennessee; William H. Crawford from Georgia; and Henry Clay from Kentucky. Adams and Crawford had both served in President Monroe’s Cabinet—Adams as secretary of state and Crawford as secretary of the treasury. Jackson was a U.S. senator and former war hero, while Clay was Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Who won the popular vote in the presidential election of 1824?
Jackson captured the popular vote with more than 150,000 votes, while Adams captured just over 100,000. Jackson also won more electoral votes (ninety-nine) than Adams (eighty-four). However, Jackson failed to capture the required majority of 131 electoral votes—Crawford tallied forty-one electoral votes and Clay thirty-seven. When no candidate received a majority of the electoral votes, the decision fell to the House of Representatives. The representatives from each state voted for a candidate. Adams ended up capturing thirteen states (to Jackson’s seven and Crawford’s four). Thus, Adams became president as he captured more than a majority of the states (thirteen out of twenty-four) to win the electoral vote and the presidency.
Who was the first Speaker of the House to have significant prominence and power in the government?
Henry Clay (1777–1852) was the Speaker of the House who acquired a great deal of power in American politics. Clay served as Speaker of the House three different times: 1811–1814, 1815–1820, and 1823–1825. He also served as a U.S. senator and U.S. secretary of state in his long and illustrious political career. He is considered one of the greatest and most influential members in the history of Congress.
Clay used his considerable powers as Speaker to pass legislation he supported and thwart legislation he opposed. He also decided the presidential election of 1824, when Clay threw his support behind John Quincy Adams instead of Andrew Jackson, who actually received more electoral votes. Clay then served as Adams’s secretary of state, causing Jackson’s supporters to term this the “Corrupt Bargain.”
What was the “Corrupt Bargain”?
The “Corrupt Bargain” referred to a claim asserted by supporters of Andrew Jackson that John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay engaged in a corrupt bargain to obtain votes for Adams. They maintained that Clay encouraged others in the House to vote for Adams because Adams agreed to name Clay as his secretary of state if he won the presidency. While Clay did encourage members of the House to vote for Adams rather than Jackson—who later became Adams’s secretary of state—the two contended that there never was any corrupt bargain. Clay maintained that he thought Adams would be better equipped to handle the presidency than Jackson.
What happened in Adams’s reelection attempt?
Adams could never overcome the allegations that he did not deserve to win the election of 1824, as Jackson’s supporters fanned the flames of public discontent. Furthermore, many members of Congress, allied with Jackson, continually thwarted Adams’s proposals. In 1828, Jackson supporters effectively convinced enough voters that he deserved the election four years earlier, winning 178 electoral votes to only eighty-three for Adams.
What was unusual about Jackson’s inauguration celebration?
Jackson’s inauguration in March 1829 was attended by masses of people. A virtual mob flocked to the White House to shake hands with Jackson, who was considered a president for the people, rather than an East Coast elitist. By some accounts, Jackson was nearly trampled by the rush of people and had to retreat from the White House grounds.
Pictured here in a c. 1843 daguerrotype, John Quincy Adams was America’s sixth president. He failed to gain reelection in no small part because of the “Corrupt Bargain” scandal the Jacksonians accused him of.
Whom did Andrew Jackson kill in a duel years before he became president?
Jackson killed a man named Charles Dickinson in May 1806, following a dispute between Jackson and Joseph Erwin over a horse race. Apparently, Erwin owed Jackson some money after losing a bet. When there was difficulty collecting the money, Jackson or one of his friends made a negative comment about Erwin.
Erwin’s son-in-law, Dickinson, intervened and challenged Jackson to a duel. Dickinson—apparently quite handy with a pistol—fired first, hitting Jackson. Jackson then returned fire, killing Dickinson. Jackson carried Dickinson’s bullet in his body for the remainder of his life.
What was the Nullification Crisis?
The Nullification Crisis arose around the claims by some political leaders in South Carolina—including Jackson’s first vice president, John C. Calhoun (1782–1850)—that a state could nullify federal laws it found unconstitutional and not worthy of respect. South Carolina advocated the nullification doctrine after the U.S. Congress passed a tariff bill that state leaders found unwise and unfair.
Jackson and Calhoun clashed over this issue of nullification. At one political event in 1830, President Jackson was asked to give a toast. Looking at his vice president, he said loudly: “The Federal Union—It Must Be Preserved!” Allegedly, Calhoun then gave the following toast as something of a retort: “The Union: next to our Liberty the most dear: may we all remember that it can only be preserved by respecting the rights of the States and distributing equally the benefit and burden of the Union!”
Jackson removed Calhoun supporters from his Cabinet, and it was apparent that Calhoun’s political fortunes were dwindling in the Jackson Administration.
What was the “Eaton Affair”?
The Eaton Affair, also known as the Petticoat Affair (1830–1831), involved how the wives of Jackson’s Cabinet members treated Peggy Eaton, the wife of Secretary of War John Eaton. Many women, including Floride Calhoun—the wife of Vice President John C. Calhoun—believed Peggy Eaton did not comport herself properly and married John Eaton far too soon after the death of her first husband.
Andrew Jackson sided with Peggy Eaton, leading to great tension among his Cabinet. It led to the effective dissolution of Jackson’s original Cabinet. Jackson came to rely on a group of informal advisors known as his “Kitchen Cabinet.”
How was the Mormon Church established?
Joseph Smith
An interesting sidebar during this time in American history is the publication of the Book of Mormon and the story of Joseph Smith (1805–1844) and Brigham Young (1801–1877). Smith declared that in 1823 he had been visited by the angel Moroni, who revealed to Smith that a tribe of Israelites had escaped the Old World to settle in North America. Moroni then told Smith where to find golden plates that were buried near his home in Vermont and that revealed the history of these people and how they believed in Jesus centuries before the Savior’s birth. Smith also asserted that he had visions of Jesus and God and that they had commanded him to establish the Church of Christ (now the Church of Christ of Latter-Day Saints). After publishing the Book of Mormon in 1830, Smith and his growing number of converts were soon persecuted for their beliefs (many of them controversial, such as allowing polygamy), and they fled to Ohio and then Illinois. When Smith destroyed a newspaper that had criticized him and his church, he was arrested and, in 1844, killed by an angry mob. A successor was found in Brigham Young, who led the Mormons to a new home in Salt Lake City, Utah, where they could live free of persecution.
Who comprised Jackson’s unofficial “Kitchen Cabinet”?
Jackson’s “Kitchen Cabinet” consisted of Martin Van Buren (1782–1862)—his former secretary of state who would become his vice president in his second term; Francis Preston Blair, the editor of the Washington Globe; Amos Kendall, editor of two newspapers and later Jackson’s postmaster general; William B. Lewis, who formerly served as quartermaster under General Jackson; Andrew Jackson Donelson, the president’s nephew; John Overton, his longtime friend and business partner; and Roger B. Taney, his attorney general whom he later nominated as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Who tried to assassinate President Jackson?
An unemployed house painter named Richard Lawrence fired two guns at Jackson in Washington, D.C., in February 1835 as Jackson was leaving the funeral service of former U.S. Congressman Warren R. Davis. Jackson chased his assailant with his cane and made sure Lawrence was apprehended. Lawrence was a mentally ill man who sometimes believed he was the king of England. He had tried to kill his sister before and had threatened others. Lawrence was deemed insane and never brought to trial.
What was Van Buren’s role in Jackson’s Cabinet?
Van Buren played a key role in Jackson’s Cabinet, as he and Jackson were on good terms. Van Buren was the only member of Jackson’s Cabinet who was a member of Jackson’s Kitchen Cabinet. Historians believe Van Buren helped convince Jackson to eliminate his entire Cabinet, including Vice President Calhoun. Van Buren resigned his position but worked behind the scenes to help Jackson’s successful reelection.
Why was James K. Polk called the “dark horse” candidate?
In 1844, President James K. Polk (1795–1849; eleventh president, 1845–1849) did not appear on the radar screen as the next president of the United States; he had just lost two consecutive bids for the governorship of Tennessee. No one thought a candidate who could not win his own state could win the presidency. Additionally, the frontrunner for the Democratic Party at the 1844 convention was former President Martin Van Buren.
However, Van Buren made a serious blunder by publicly coming out against the annexation of Texas—adding the state to the Union—as did Whig candidate Henry Clay. Perhaps Van Buren and Clay wanted to avoid the thorny slavery question that was so divisive in the country. President Andrew Jackson saw an opportunity for his protégé and with the help of other key politicians managed to move Polk onto a later ballot at the Democratic convention.
As Van Buren could not obtain the necessary majority votes, it became clear that someone else would have to emerge. It turned out to be Polk, who became the Democratic Party’s nominee.
What measure led to Polk’s success in lowering the tariff?
The Walker Tariff Act of 1846—named after Polk’s secretary of the treasury, Robert J. Walker—achieved the president’s objective in lowering the tariffs that had been passed by the Whigs in 1842. Polk faced significant opposition in Congress. Vice President George M. Dallas cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate that led to the law’s successful passage.
What was Polk’s financial plan with regard to the Treasury?
Polk wanted to avoid creating a national bank, placing the government’s money in private banks instead. Polk followed the example of Martin Van Buren, who had called for an independent treasury during his presidency. Unlike Van Buren, Polk managed to have his measure—which he called the Constitutional Treasury Act—passed into law. It lasted until 1913, when Congress created the Federal Reserve System.
While many Americans do not think much about James K. Polk these days, historians often hold that he was one of the country’s most accomplished presidents.
Why do some historians consider James K. Polk a great president?
Many historians consider Polk a great president because he had several major accomplishments in his one term in office. In fact, Polk’s Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft, an esteemed historian, said Polk articulated four major goals upon assuming office: (1) lower tariffs; (2) create an independent treasury; (3) annex Oregon to the United States; and (4) obtain California from Mexico. Polk accomplished all four of these major objectives. President Harry Truman said of Polk: “He said exactly what he was going to do, and he did it.”
What unpopular legislation did Jefferson sign to avoid entering the English–French conflict?
Jefferson signed the Embargo Act of 1807 to keep America completely out of the conflict between Great Britain and France. Each side prohibited any of its allies from trading with its enemy. Jefferson refused to become involved in the war and responded with the Embargo Act, an attempt to show the United States’s neutrality in the English–French conflict. The measure prohibited foreign trade with either nation. The banning of trade with either nation was unpopular, but it did lead to the creation of more textile mills and other industries in the United States. Jefferson lifted the embargo shortly before leaving office.
Which two future presidents were war heroes during the War of 1812?
Andrew Jackson and William Henry Harrison (1773–1841), the future seventh and ninth presidents, respectively, achieved great acclaim during the War of 1812 for military successes. Jackson led a group of militia and others against British forces in the Battle of New Orleans, which took place between December 1814 and January 1815. Jackson led American forces to a stunning victory over the British.
General William Henry Harrison won the Battle of the Thames over the Shawnee Indian leader Tecumseh in 1813. Harrison originally achieved acclaim when, as governor of the Indiana territory, he led a successful campaign against a group of Indians at the Battle of Tippecanoe.
What battle in the War of 1812 led to the “Star-Spangled Banner”?
A young lawyer named Francis Scott Key became inspired to write a ballad—later known as the “Star–Spangled Banner”—after seeing an American flag still flying after the British attack on Fort McHenry in the Battle of Baltimore. His initial title was the “Defense of Fort McHenry.” In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson declared the “Star–Spangled Banner” the country’s national anthem.
What caused the War of 1812?
The war between the young United States and powerful Great Britain largely came about because of France. After the French Navy was crushed by the British under Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) at the Battle of Trafalgar, Napoleon turned to economic warfare in his long struggle with the British, directing all countries under French control not to trade with Great Britain. Its economy dependent on trade, Britain struck back by imposing a naval blockade on France, which soon interfered with U.S. shipping. Ever since the struggle between the two European powers began in 1793, the United States tried to remain neutral. But the interruption of shipping to and from the continent and the search and seizure of ships posed significant problems to the American export business. In 1807, Great Britain issued an Order in Council that required even neutral vessels destined for a continental port to stop first in England; Napoleon countered with the Milan Decree, stating that any neutral vessel that submitted to British search be seized.
Back in America, the people of New England, the American region most dependent on shipping, nevertheless vehemently opposed entering into war with the British. But the country’s economy was depressed as a result of the interruption of exports, and the U.S. Congress declared war on June 18, 1812. In these days before telegraph and radio, the United States did not know that on June 16 Britain had withdrawn its Order in Council, lifting its policy of shipping interference—the chief reason for the war declaration. Thus the two countries engaged in fighting for the next two and a half years. On December 24, 1814, the Treaty of Ghent officially ended the war. But once again, poor communication led to fighting: Two weeks after the treaty was signed, troops in New Orleans, unaware of the treaty, fought for control over the Mississippi River in the worst battle of the entire conflict. Although both the United States and Great Britain claimed victory in the War of 1812, neither side gained anything.
Artist Edward Percy Moran’s 1912 painting “By Dawn’s Early Light” depicts Francis Scott Key viewing the American flag flying over Fort McHenry after a British attack.
Who were the War Hawks?
The War Hawks were a group of Republicans in the U.S. Congress who advocated war with Great Britain. Elected in 1810, the congressmen took office in 1811, the failure of the Erskine agreement fresh in their memories. That bit of 1809 diplomacy, arranged by British minister to the United States George Erskine and the then-U.S. Secretary of State James Madison (1751–1836), would have provided for the suspension of Britain’s maritime practices that interfered with U.S. shipping, but the agreement fell apart when Erskine was recalled from office. The relationship between the United States and Great Britain—tenuous since 1807 due to trade embargoes and the impressment of American sailors into British service—deteriorated. The newly elected Congressmen were tired of the failure of diplomacy to resolve maritime problems with the British. They further felt the British were challenging the young United States through their policies, which purportedly included British aid to American Indians in the Northwest. War Hawk leader Henry Clay (1777–1852) was named Speaker of the House, and Congress soon passed a series of resolutions to strengthen the Army and Navy. When President James Madison called upon Congress to declare war on the British in June 1812, the War Hawks swung the close vote. Some historians believe the true motive behind the War Hawks’s actions was not resolution of the shipping problems but rather the desire to annex parts of southern Canada to the United States.
What was future president William Henry Harrison’s role during the War of 1812?
Harrison was promoted to major general and given authority over all military forces in the Northwest Territory. He battled both Indian forces—including Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa—and the British. In October 1813, he won the Battle of the Thames over Indian forces. This battle increased Harrison’s fame, making him a national figure even more than the Battle of Tippecanoe.
Who was Tecumseh?
Tecumseh (1768–1813) was the leader of the Shawnee, who was involved in clashes with the Americans in the Ohio Valley. He rose to prominence by 1800 and partnered with his religious leader brother, Tenskwatawa, to create a formidable confederacy of American Indian tribes. Tecumseh and his brother founded Prophetstown, Illinois, in 1808 and rebelled against the Americans in Tecumseh’s War, which essentially ended with the Shawnee loss to Harrison at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. Tecumseh, however, continued his resistance against the Americans by allying with the British during the War of 1812. Tecumseh helped the British capture Fort Detroit, but in 1813 the Americans enjoyed a decisive victory at the Battle of the Thames in Canada, and Tecumseh was killed on October 5, 1813.
Who said, “We have met the enemy, and they are ours”?
Captain Oliver Hazard Perry (1785–1819) wrote the famous words in a letter to General William Henry Harrison (1773–1841) after defeating the British at the Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 1813. An improvised U.S. squadron commanded by Captain Perry, just twenty-eight years old, achieved the victory in the War of 1812 battle. The message he sent to Harrison (later the ninth U.S. president) was: “We have met the enemy, and they are ours: two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop.” Perry received a gold medal and thanks from Congress for the victory.
What was future President Zachary Taylor’s role during the War of 1812?
Taylor—then a captain—successfully defended Fort Harrison with a group of fifty men from a Tecumseh-led force of more than four hundred men in the War of 1812. The event is sometimes called the “Siege of Fort Harrison.” His success earned him the rank of Brevet Major, the first time this honor was ever awarded. The designation “brevet” signified that an officer displayed particular courage during military service.
What happened to the nation’s capital during the War of 1812?
British forces overran Washington, D.C., burning both the White House and the U.S. Capitol. General William Winder, whom Madison had appointed as commander in charge of defending the capital, did an inadequate job in preparing the area’s defenses. Madison had to flee the city after hearing from General Winder of the oncoming British invasion.
Which member of Madison’s Cabinet lost his job as a result of the burning of the Capitol?
Secretary of War John Armstrong received blame for the poor defense of the Capitol during the War of 1812. Armstrong resigned under pressure in September 1814, essentially as the scapegoat for the British burning of the capital city. President James Monroe served as both secretary of war and secretary of state.
Artist George Munger’s depiction of the White House shortly after it was burned by British troops in 1814 (the S-shaped line near the corner of the roof was, historians guess, part of a lightning-protection system, though not a lightning rod).
What war brought Jackson into potential conflict with the presidency?
President James Monroe asked Jackson to lead a campaign against the Seminole and Creek Indians in December 1817. Jackson ruthlessly carried out his task—and then arguably exceeded it. He ordered the execution of two British officers suspected of plotting against the United States by supplying weapons to the Indians. He also invaded Florida, a Spanish territory at the time. President James Monroe—against the advice of some of his Cabinet members—declined to punish or even censor Jackson for his actions.
In what famous battles did Andrew Jackson prevail during the War of 1812 and the Creek War?
Jackson led a successful campaign against the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814 during the Creek War (sometimes considered part of the War of 1812). Most famously, Jackson led outnumbered American forces in the Battle of New Orleans in January 1815. The defeat of the British made Jackson a national hero.
What treaty ended the War of 1812?
The Treaty of Ghent effectively ended the War of 1812. The treaty was signed in the Netherlands (present-day Belgium) in December 1814, although it was not ratified until February 1815 after the intervening Battle of New Orleans. Under the treaty, which the U.S. Senate ratified unanimously, the United States received its territories near the Great Lakes and Maine but renounced the lands they had acquired in Canada.
What treaty helped soothe relations between the U.S. and Britain in President Monroe’s first year of office?
The two countries signed the Rush–Bagot treaty in 1817, demilitarizing the Great Lakes area near the northern border of the U.S. This had been a hotly contested area of military conflict during the War of 1812. Under the treaty, each side would remove military posts, and a border was established between the U.S. and British territory (later Canada). The treaty was named after U.S. Secretary of State Richard Rush and British minister Sir Charles Bagot.
TERRITORIAL CONFLICT AND EXPANSION
What was the Louisiana Purchase?
President Thomas Jefferson approved and ordered the Louisiana Purchase with Napoleon Bonaparte, the emperor of France, in 1803. Jefferson desired to acquire the French colony of Louisiana mainly to acquire the port city of New Orleans for commerce and defense purposes. Jefferson allegedly said: “There is on the globe one single spot the possessor of which is our natural and habitual enemy.” In other words, President Jefferson knew and appreciated the strategic importance of acquiring New Orleans and surrounding land.
James Monroe and Robert R. Livingston, the U.S. minister to France, negotiated the purchase with French authorities. The $15 million purchase included more than 800,000 square miles, roughly doubling the size of the United States. The U.S. Senate approved the purchase—completed in the form of a treaty—by a vote of 24–7. Upon the agreement, Livingston said: “From this day, the United States take their place among the powers of the first rank.”
The land acquired during the Louisiana Purchase includes what is present-day Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, much of North and South Dakota, and parts of New Mexico, Texas, Wyoming, and Montana. It was one of the best and most important land deals in American history.
What state did President Monroe acquire from Spain?
Monroe obtained present-day Florida from Spain in February 1819 under the Adams–Onis Treaty. The treaty was named after U.S. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and Spanish foreign minister Luis de Onis. Under the treaty, Spain ceded Florida to the United States, and the two countries set the southern borders of the United States, establishing that U.S. territory extended to the Pacific Ocean.
What was Monroe’s policy toward Native Americans?
Monroe appeared to support a policy that would protect the rights of Native Americans to land. In his first inaugural address, he said: “With the Indian tribes it is our duty to cultivate friendly relations and to act with kindness and liberality in all our transactions.” He advocated giving Native Indians simple titles to land for free, but although this seems generous on the surface, in reality the result was to break up the communal living style of the tribes so that they became separate land owners. It also allowed white settlers access to former Indian land.
Furthermore, as would be true with many presidents to follow, Monroe would go back on treaties made with the tribes in earlier years, such as breaking an 1804 treaty with the Cherokee when the president asserted in 1824 the treaty had never been made.
What was the Indian Removal Act?
In 1830 Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, a measure that President Jackson supported and signed into law that May. It called for the creation of an Indian territory in Oklahoma. Technically, the law called for the voluntary removal of various native tribes from the southeastern part of the United States. In practice, the law led to the forced removal of the Native Americans from their lands. The most famous of these removals was by the Cherokees from Georgia to what later became Oklahoma. This arduous journey became immortalized in history as the “Trail of Tears.”
What was the impact of the Trail of Tears?
The Trail of Tears devastated many Indian tribes, most notably the Cherokee. Thousands of Cherokees died from disease and starvation in the forced removal to Oklahoma. All told, nearly 50,000 American Indians were relocated. Along the way, four thousand Cherokee died.
What were the American–Indian Wars?
Historians use the term “American–Indian Wars” to discuss a long series of military conflicts between the United States and native peoples, as the European Americans slowly took over much of North America. Indeed, one could state that the wars began with the 1622 Jamestown massacre and did not end until 1924, when the Apache Wars were officially declared over.
A map from the U.S. National Park Service shows the routes taken by Native Indians as they were removed from their homelands. Thousands died during the forced march.
The history of the American–Indian Wars is often tragic and shameful. Much of the fighting was exacerbated by the U.S. government’s penchant for breaking treaties it had signed with various American Indian tribes; the U.S. military then forcibly removed Indians from land they had been told was theirs legally, herding the tribes into smaller and smaller reservations often located on land with poor resources that the U.S. government didn’t want anyway.
What diplomatic crisis arose with Canada during the Van Buren presidency?
Some Canadians began moving for independence from Great Britain. Some Americans helped the Canadians in their effort, exacerbating tensions in the U.S.–Great Britain relationship. Canadian loyalists, with support from Great Britain, then seized an American ship in 1837, the Caroline, containing supplies for Canadian rebels. During this seizure, American Amos Durfree was killed.
Van Buren ordered General Winfield Scott to the area to prevent further hostilities. He also issued a proclamation of neutrality, stating that the United States would remain neutral in the Canadian–British struggle.
What was the Aroostook War?
The Aroostook War was not really a war. It was a tense conflict between Maine and New Brunswick about the proper border between the United States and Canada in the area along the Aroostook River. In 1839, the Maine legislature sent militia to the river to remove what it perceived to be Canadian interlopers. The New Brunswick Lieutenant Governor Sir John Harvey issued an order to remove Americans from what he believed to be Canadian, and thus British, land. Van Buren dispatched General Scott to work out a compromise, and eventually, both countries signed the Webster–Ashburton Treaty of 1842.
What did the Webster–Ashburton Treaty accomplish?
The treaty was a significant diplomatic achievement that significantly reduced conflict between Great Britain and the United States. Signed on August 9, 1842, the main thrust of the treaty was the working out of an agreed-upon border between the state of Maine and the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The treaty was named after Secretary of State Daniel Webster and British diplomat Alexander Baring, known as Lord Ashburton.
Fortunately for the United States, Ashburton had a personal interest in bringing peace to the northeast region, as he owned a significant chunk of land in Maine and did not want to see full-blown conflict in the area.
This map shows how, especially during the nineteenth century, the United States swiftly gained territory from the Atlantic to Pacific Ocean.
What war did President James K. Polk (1795–1849) wage that led to greater territory for the United States?
Fulfilling the Democratic phrase “manifest destiny,” Polk engaged the United States in the Mexican–American War that led to the eventual annexation of California. Tensions were already hot between the two countries after the annexation of Texas, which had begun in earnest at the end of the Tyler Administration, but completed officially in Polk’s term.
But Polk wanted more for the country—the provinces of New Mexico and California. Mexican troops had crossed the Rio Grande and killed American soldiers in the dispute.
Polk sent Major General Zachary Taylor (1784–1850)—his presidential successor—into the region. Taylor achieved several victories over the Mexican army at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. Taylor later defeated Mexican forces at Buena Vista in 1847. American armies led by either Taylor or General Winfield Scott actually took Mexico City during the conflict.
After the United States conquered Mexico City, Mexico realized that it should sell its land in New Mexico and California and end the war. Some speculated that the United States should simply take control of all of Mexico. This was known as the “All–Mexico” campaign. Polk faced resistance to the war from many in the country and decided to obtain peace and enlarge the country with more than a half a million square miles.
How did President Polk obtain Oregon?
President James K. Polk (1795–1847) refused to back down from the British and remained steadfast in his demands that the British drop claims to the Oregon territory. Polk allegedly told at least one member of Congress, “The only way to treat John Bull [another name for Great Britain] is to look him in the eye.” He acquired present-day Oregon, Washington, and part of Idaho. He obtained land up to the forty-ninth parallel, although not all the way to the 54° 40’ parallel that was desired by some in the “All–Oregon” campaign.
What was meant by Manifest Destiny?
The phrase Manifest Destiny was first used by American newspaper editor John O’Sullivan (1813–1895) in an article he wrote in 1845, in which he favored the annexations of Texas and Oregon. He believed that divine providence was in action and that the United States would eventually span the continent (he was right). The roots of O’Sullivan’s optimistic nationalism dated back to the Puritan era and the idea that Christian settlers had a divine obligation to spread their beliefs across the continent. Religious fervor was compounded by nationalism and feelings of racial superiority over the American Indians and, later, the Mexicans in the Southwest. But it was also an economic urge to increase the territory of the United States to take advantage of natural resources, from the fur industry to timber to farm and ranch land and, in California, gold. Eventually, it spread beyond the continental United States, leading to the entry of Alaska and Hawaii as states, and even, one could argue, the space race and the moon landing.
What caused the Mexican–American War?
The Mexican–American War (1846–1848) was fought over the United States’s annexation of Texas. The events that led up to the conflict began in 1837 when President Jackson recognized Texas as independent (just after Texas won its war with Mexico). Republic of Texas President Sam Houston (1793–1863) felt that protection against a Mexican invasion might be necessary, so he eyed annexation to the United States. In the meantime, Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (1794–1876) warned that such an action on the part of the United States would be “equivalent to a declaration of war against the Mexican Republic.” In June 1844, the U.S. Senate rejected a proposed annexation treaty. But later that year Democratic Party nominee Polk, an ardent expansionist, was elected president. Because the annexation of Texas had figured prominently in his campaign platform, outgoing President Tyler (1790–1862) viewed Polk’s victory as a public mandate for annexation, and he recommended that Congress pass a joint resolution to invite Texas into the Union. Congress did so in February, and President Tyler signed the resolution on March 1, 1845, three days before leaving office.
Mexico responded by breaking off diplomatic relations with the United States. A border dispute made the situation increasingly tenuous: Texas claimed that its southern border was the Rio Grande River, while Mexico insisted it was the Nueces River, situated farther north. In June 1846, Polk ordered Brigadier General Zachary Taylor (1784–1850) to move his forces into the disputed area. In November, the U.S. government received word that Mexico was prepared to talk. Polk dispatched Congressman John Slidell (1793–1871) to Mexico to discuss three other outstanding issues: the purchase of California (for $25 million), the purchase of New Mexico (for $5 million), and the payment of damages to American nationals for losses incurred in Mexican revolutions. This last point was critical to the negotiations, as Polk was prepared to have the United States assume payment of damages to its own citizens in exchange for Mexico’s recognition of the Rio Grande as the southern border of Texas.
But upon arrival in Mexico City, Slidell was refused the meeting—President José Joaquín Herrera (1792–1854) had bowed to pressure, opposing discussions with the United States. When Polk received news of the scuttled talks, he authorized General Taylor to advance through the disputed territory to the Rio Grande. Meanwhile, Mexico overthrew President Herrera, putting into office the fervent nationalist General Mariano Paredes y Arrillaga (1797–1849), who reaffirmed Mexico’s claim to Texas and pledged to defend Mexican territory.
While Polk worked through Slidell to get an audience with the Mexican government, the attempts failed. On May 9, 1846, the Cabinet met and approved the president’s recommendation to ask Congress to declare war. The next day, news arrived in Washington that on April 25, a sizeable Mexican force had crossed the Rio Grande and surrounded a smaller American reconnaissance party. Eleven Americans were killed; the rest were wounded or captured. On May 11, Polk delivered a message to Congress, concluding, “Mexico has … shed American blood upon the American soil. … War exists … by the act of Mexico herself.” By the time the war was officially declared on May 13, just more than one year after Polk had been sworn into office, General Taylor had already fought and won key battles against the Mexicans and had occupied the northern Mexico city of Matamoros.
