by The New Big Book of U S Presidents (2020) (retail) (epub)
1841
1841
Transcendentalists form Brook Farm, a utopian community devoted to cooperative living.
1841
Prussian gunsmith Johann Nikolas Dreyse designs the first breech-loading military rifle.
1841
Scottish surgeon James Baird develops hypnosis.
JOHN TYLER
Whig, 1841–1845
John Tyler was the first vice president elevated to the presidency due to the chief executive’s death. His enemies, therefore, called him “His Accidency.” Unlike Andrew Jackson, Tyler believed state governments should be as strong as the central government.
Born into an aristocratic farming family, Tyler attended the College of William and Mary and studied law. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives between 1816 and 1821 before becoming governor of Virginia. In 1827, Tyler joined the U.S. Senate as a Democrat. Because Tyler opposed the unionist ideas of Andrew Jackson, he left the Democratic party and joined the Whigs. Although his principled political stands angered many Whigs, his ability to win southern votes caused the party to make him its vice presidential nominee in 1840.
When President Harrison died, Tyler had to establish his personal authority. Because Tyler had not won election himself, members of Harrison’s cabinet believed that he should allow them to lead the country. Tyler refused, establishing the practice that vice presidents could lead the country. As president, Tyler vetoed a congressional attempt to re-create the National Bank that Andrew Jackson had dismantled. This move angered members of the Whig party, causing Whigs to resign from Tyler’s cabinet and the party to expel the president from its ranks.
Despite possessing few political allies, Tyler managed to encourage American westward expansion. He used the “Log Cabin” bill to make it easier for settlers to purchase vacant land, and he organized the annexation of Texas. Tyler also worked with Secretary of State Daniel Webster to secure the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, an agreement that settled a dispute with Great Britain concerning America’s northeastern border. Still, with no major party willing to support him, Tyler retired from office in 1845 without seeking re-election.
When the Civil War began in 1861, Tyler attempted to negotiate a peaceful settlement between the North and the South. After these negotiations failed, he joined the Confederate government. He died while serving in the Confederate House of Representatives in 1862.
The Annexation of Texas
After Texas won its independence from Mexico in 1836, its government immediately applied to become a part of the United States. Because Texas allowed slavery and intended to enter the Union as a slave state, abolitionists in the U.S. Congress opposed the annexation of Texas. After years of negotiations, the American government finally agreed to admit Texas to the Union as a slave state just before Tyler left office. Mexico, which had never recognized Texan independence, disputed America’s right to annex the territory.
Born: March 29, 1790
Died: January 18, 1862
Birthplace: Charles City County, VA
V.P.: None
First Lady: Letitia Christian, Julia Gardiner
• First president to remarry after being widowed
• Only president to serve in both the United States and Confederate governments
Frederick Douglass (1817-1895)
Born on a Maryland plantation to Harriet Bailey, a slave, and an unidentified white man, Douglass learned to read and write from his master’s wife. In 1838, he escaped from the plantation and traveled to Massachusetts, where he became a vocal opponent of slavery. Within 10 years, Douglass opened his own anti-slavery newspaper, the North Star, so that he could denounce slavery publicly. When he published his autobiography, My Bondage, My Freedom, in 1855, Douglass became the most recognized and respected African-American abolitionist in the United States. During the Civil War, Douglass advised President Lincoln, urging him to use African-American soldiers and provide them with both equal pay and fair promotions.
1841
December 1842
Dr. Charles Minnegerode reportedly trims first Christmas tree.
January 1843
Dorothea Lynde Dix becomes a spokesperson for the rights of the insane.
1843
New York City’s German Jews form B’nai B’rith, a community organization that becomes increasingly influential over time.
July 3, 1844
American Caleb Cushing negotiates the Treaty of Wang Hiya, the first commercial agreement between the United States and China.
JAMES K. POLK
Democrat, 1845–1849
The last of Andrew Jackson’s associates to be president, James Polk rose to the presidency promising to work for the common man and to advance westward expansion. Because no one expected him to become a presidential nominee, Polk was the first “dark horse” candidate to win the presidency.
Born on the old American frontier, Polk established himself as a diligent student before graduating from the University of North Carolina in 1818. After graduation, Polk became a lawyer and served in the Tennessee state legislature. He was then elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving as speaker of the House between 1835 and 1839. During that time, he supported President Jackson’s attack on the Bank of the United States and argued in favor of westward expansion. Polk then left Congress to become governor of Tennessee.
After defeating Whig candidate Lewis Cass in the election of 1844, Polk focused on exciting American nationalism and expanding America’s borders. As a result, he provoked war with Mexico in 1846 in spite of the U.S. Army’s meager size. Bolstering the regular army’s force of 7,500 men with 100,000 volunteers, the president oversaw military operations that capitalized on Mexico’s weaknesses. Although soldiers like Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant used the war to hone the military skills they later applied during the Civil War, other Americans were not so fortunate: 1,700 American soldiers died in action and 11,000 died of disease. The sons of Senators Henry Clay and Daniel Webster were among the casualties. The Mexican War, however, highlighted Polk’s strong leadership abilities and allowed the United States to gain control of the land that eventually became the states of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. Polk also established himself as a strong negotiator during this period by convincing Great Britain to surrender peacefully much of the Oregon territory.
His health collapsing toward the end of his first term, Polk did not seek re-election in 1848. Although he might have expanded America’s borders in a more peaceful manner, Polk left office knowing that he had achieved most of his goals. The last strong president before the Civil War, Polk died of cholera a few months after retiring to his home in Tennessee.
Born: November 2, 1795
Died: June 15, 1849
Birthplace: Mecklenburg County, NC
V.P.: George M. Dallas
First Lady: Sarah Childress
• Only president to have been Speaker of the House of Representatives
• Acquired the most land for the United States since the Louisiana Purchase
The Seneca Falls Convention
In July 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott organized America’s first major women’s rights convention at Seneca Falls, New York. Over the course of one week, female and male reformers discussed the many injustices imposed on American women. At the end of the convention, Stanton penned a document declaring that, because all people were equal, women should possess the right to vote. Although women would not win the right to vote for another 70 years, the Seneca Falls Convention provided women with a chance to voice their ideas and helped launch a women’s rights movement that continues to thrive in the United States.
Manifest Destiny
In July 1845, John L. O’Sullivan published an article in the United States Magazine and Democratic Review that claimed it was America’s “manifest destiny” to claim the North American continent for itself. This popular term served as a rallying cry for citizens interested in g
aining new land for the United States by annexing Texas, waging war against Mexico, and claiming Native American territories. Those who believed in the idea of “manifest destiny” argued that America’s political and religious institutions were uniquely virtuous. The spread of American institutions and culture, therefore, promised to uplift all of humanity.
1849
1845
Starving due to Ireland’s Potato Famine, thousands of Irish begin to emigrate to the United States.
1845
Edgar Allan Poe publishes his haunting book The Raven and Other Poems.
March 3, 1847
Congress approves the use of adhesive postage stamps.
July 24, 1847
Eager to escape persecution in the East and Midwest, Mormons begin to settle around Utah’s Great Salt Lake.
ZACHARY TAYLOR
Whig, 1849–1850
The first career soldier to become president, Zachary Taylor earned the nickname “Old Rough and Ready” because of his simple and direct manner. His strong patriotism caused him to oppose sectionalism and hold the nation together.
Zachary Taylor grew up on a prosperous Kentucky plantation. He joined the army in 1808 and participated in the War of 1812, before leading U.S. troops against Native American tribes during the next two decades. In 1837, Taylor strengthened his growing reputation by supervising a victory over the Seminoles at Florida’s Lake Okechobee.
After rising to the rank of general, Taylor helped provoke war with Mexico and produced impressive American victories at the Battles of Monterrey and Buena Vista. Yet after Taylor became a national hero, President Polk began to consider him a potential political enemy and removed him from the war’s front lines as a result.
After the war, the Whig party nominated Taylor for president. Although Taylor did not believe he was qualified to be president, his deep belief in national service caused him to accept the nomination. Running against Democrat Lewis Cass and the Free Soil party’s candidate, Martin Van Buren, Taylor took advantage of low voter turnout and won the election.
As president, Taylor had to decide what to do with the land America had taken from Mexico. Although he owned more than 100 slaves, Taylor proved an atypical Southerner, opposing the spread of slavery into America’s new territory. When angry Southerners reacted to Taylor’s stand by threatening to remove the South from the Union, the president promised to oppose their rebellion with force.
Taylor, however, died before he could resolve America’s growing sectional problems. While giving a long speech on July 4, 1850, Taylor consumed foods and liquids susceptible to Asian cholera. His doctors knew little about the disease and were unable to help him. He died five days later. Although people long believed Taylor’s enemies poisoned him with arsenic, recent tests indicate that he died of natural causes.
Harriet Tubman (c. 1820–1913)
Harriet Tubman grew up as a slave on a Maryland plantation. In 1849, she escaped from her master and began a 12-year struggle to help other slaves gain their freedom. Although Tubman was illiterate, she was extremely intelligent and became a prominent member of America’s Underground Railroad, an informal system in which both black and white Americans moved escaped slaves to safe areas in the North. She helped an estimated 300 slaves gain their freedom before the Civil War.
Born: November 24, 1784
Died: July 9, 1850
Birthplace: Orange County, VA
V.P.: Millard Fillmore
First Lady: Margaret Mackall Smith
• The first president not previously elected to any other public office
• Famous for his sloppy appearance
The Gold Rush
In January 1848, a New Jersey mechanic named John Marshal discovered gold while building a sawmill for John Sutter near what is now Sacramento, California. Word of his discovery quickly spread and thousands of Americans risked their lives to cross the continent and win their fortunes. Although many fortune-seekers died along the way, more than 40,000 people had come to California by 1850, and together they unearthed record amounts of gold. Many of these prospectors chose to settle in California, helping to populate the Far West for the first time.
1849
1849
Henry David Thoreau publishes Civil Disobedience, a collection of essays showing how to protest against governmental power.
1849
Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first American woman to earn a medical degree.
1850
Levi Strauss begins to produce blue jeans.
1850
Nathaniel Hawthorne publishes The Scarlet Letter.
MILLARD FILLMORE
Whig, 1850–1853
Overshadowed by flamboyant Senators like Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and Daniel Webster, Millard Fillmore was a soft-spoken man determined to ease sectional tensions in the United States. He fulfilled the American dream by overcoming childhood poverty to become president.
A farm worker during childhood, Fillmore became a cloth worker’s apprentice at the age of 15. He later worked as a schoolteacher and studied law before entering the world of politics. Working for the influential New York politician Thurlow Weed, Fillmore held state office for 8 years before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1832. Fillmore then lost his attempt to become governor of New York in 1844 but did serve as that state’s comptroller.
In 1848, Fillmore became Zachary Taylor’s vice president and presided over heated congressional debates concerning slavery. Always a moderate, Fillmore urged Congress to pass the Compromise of 1850, an agreement that admitted California to the Union as a free state, allowed the extension of slavery into southern territories, and helped slave owners to retrieve escaped slaves.
After Fillmore became president, he temporarily improved relations between the North and the South by signing the Compromise of 1850 into law. Looking beyond America’s borders, Fillmore sent Commodore Matthew C. Perry to Japan so that the United States could trade with the Japanese and convince them to assist shipwrecked American sailors.
The Whig party did not nominate Fillmore for re-election in 1852, so he returned to New York to practice law. Determined to unite the North and the South, Fillmore again ran for president in 1856 as a member of the Know-Nothing party but lost badly and retired again. During the Civil War, he continued to press for national compromise, denouncing southern secession while refusing to support President Lincoln.
Born: January 7, 1800
Died: March 8, 1874
Birthplace: Cayuga County, NY
V.P.: None
First Lady: Abigail Powers
• His wife established the White House Library
• In retirement, he served as the president of the Buffalo Historical Society
Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896)
Born into a prominent Connecticut family, Harriet Beecher grew up as a minister’s daughter and developed strong religious beliefs. When her father moved to Cincinnati in 1832, Harriet visited Kentucky plantations and became a strong opponent of slavery as a result. After marrying Calvin Stowe and raising 6 children, she wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852. Dramatizing the evils of slavery and depicting African Americans as heroic figures, this novel sold more than 1 million copies and strengthened the anti-slavery movement in the United States. In 1856, Stowe wrote her second anti-slavery novel, Dred, A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp, and became an American celebrity.
The Fugitive Slave Act
An element of the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act allowed slave owners to track escaped slaves into the North and return them to the South. Northern abolitionists believed allowing slave owners to reach into areas where slavery was illegal violated the Compromise of 1820 and made it even more difficult for African Americans to gain their freedom. As a result, this piece of legislation dramatically increased sectional tensions in the United States and brought the nation closer to civil war.
1853
1851
He
rman Melville publishes Moby Dick.
September 18, 1851
Henry J. Raymond edits the first issue of what eventually became the New York Times.
1852
Massachusetts passes America’s first compulsory school attendance law.
FRANKLIN PIERCE
Democrat, 1853–1857
A Northerner who was sympathetic to the South, Franklin Pierce’s expansionist policies reignited the question of slavery in the territories. By the end of his term, the slavery issue had increased sectional tension significantly.
Pierce came from a prominent New Hampshire family. After some time in New Hampshire politics, where he earned a reputation as an effective speaker, Pierce served in Washington, first as a congressman and then as a senator. In 1846, inspired by the stories of his older brothers who had fought in the War of 1812, Pierce enlisted as a private in the Mexican War. He ended the war as a brigadier general and, although a “dark horse” compromise candidate, won the presidency in 1852.
During Pierce’s presidency, the United States tried to add territory to the Republic. The “Young America” expansionist movement—which included the spread of slavery westward across the Plains and south into the Caribbean—greatly influenced Pierce. Although he failed to purchase large parts of Mexico, Pierce did manage to buy a strip of desert along America’s southwestern border. The Pierce administration tried to acquire Cuba, a Spanish colony many Americans thought destined to be part of their country. Despite American pressure and the threat of Cuban revolt, Spain refused to sell the island.
Pierce purchased land from Mexico because it lay in the southern path of a proposed transcontinental railroad. Anxious to see a northern route approved instead, Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois proposed that residents of the Kansas and Nebraska Territories decide the slavery question themselves (a practice known as popular sovereignty). The resulting Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the old dividing line between free and slave states as set by the Missouri Compromise of 1820.