Tyler and Polk: A Pivotal Era

All right, all right, all right. Today we are going to be taking a look at the administrations of John Tyler and James K. Polk in roughly the period 1840 to 1848. If you're reading any of those American history books, this lecture is going to help you out. So we start with the election of 1840. Remember, there's that whole Tippecanoe and Tyler too. The Whigs pick William Henry Harrison as their candidate, the war hero from Tippecanoe. and his vice president is actually a former Democrat by the name of John Tyler. And because of some personal beef with Andrew Jackson, he leaves the Democrat Party and joins the Whig ticket in 1840. They win, got a cool slogan, Tippecanoe and Tyler too, and unfortunately for your homeboy William Henry Harrison, after 32 days in office, he dies, gives a super long inaugural address, and just dies, shortest term president ever. Now the problem is, William Henry Harrison is now dead, the first president to die while in office, 1841, and the Whig Party starts having beef with the new president, John Tyler. So the vice president becomes president, but he holds many Democrat beliefs. He's a Jacksonian at heart, state rights kind of guy. And he starts causing all sorts of problems for the Whig Party because he blocks some of their goals. For example, he... vetoes a bill to re-up the National Bank. He puts a bill in place to end the independent treasury system. And the Whig party, especially people like Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, are all angry. His entire cabinet resigns. Now, Tyler, a man without kind of a party, the Whigs don't want him, the Democrats don't want him. He tries to build a following by annexing Texas. Remember, Andrew Jackson had recognized the Lone Star Republic. Martin Van Buren, though, and Jackson were not interested in bringing up that controversy of trying to annex Texas. Tyler does. It is defeated by Whigs in Congress. They don't want any more slave states added to the Union. So in 1844, Tyler basically is out. No one wants him. The dark horse candidate is James K. Polk. He comes out of nowhere. He's running against the political veteran Henry Clay under the Whig Party. And Polk wins. Now Polk, one of the issues he brings up in the election is the annexation of Texas. He wants to do it and it's going to happen in 1845. Now here's what goes down. Polk wants to annex Texas, talks about it during the campaign as a goal that would benefit the entire nation, but it's actually lame duck President John Tyler who submits a treaty just as he's about to leave office. And he does this by a joint resolution, because under a joint resolution through Congress, you only need a majority, not the two-thirds approval of the Senate, which is the normal route that most annexation treaties take. So Tyler annexes Texas just before Polk takes office, but Polk has some goals of his own. One, he wants to lower the tariff. He's a Democrat. The Whigs kind of favor the higher tariffs. He's also from the South. He wants to lower that bad boy. Two, a big thing. Manifest Destiny National Expansion. And he has some places in mind. Oregon during the campaign he talks about 54-40 year fight. He's going to take that from England. He's going to annex Texas. Tyler kind of pre-empts that and does it first. And he also wants to acquire California. And it's worth taking a look at this idea of Manifest Destiny. It's a basic belief that it was America's destiny to conquer and civilize. the entire continent from the east coast to the west coast. And in this, there is a certain level of built-in white superiority belief in this idea. This idea that the continent, the people that are on it, are not civilized and that we are the ones to conquer it and to bring civilization to the entire continent. It's ignoring that there are Native Americans there in Mexico, in England, and other groups. The term Manifest Destiny was first coined by John O'Sullivan in 1845, a newspaper editor, but it's important to keep in mind, Western expansion had been going on for a very long time. If you really want to get technical, from the moment the colonies, you know, are founded back in 1607 and onward, we've been moving west. And with that comes problems, but we've seen this even in the early nation's history. 1803, we have the Louisiana Purchase under Thomas Jefferson. That brings up issues such as the Missouri entering the Union, we have the Missouri Compromise, Jackson's Indian removal policies in the 1830s. These are all examples of the United States moving west, occupying new land. But what happens in the 1840s? is the issue of slavery is going to complicate western expansion more and more frequently. So in 1820, that compromise resolved it, but it's going to pop back up. Let's talk about one of the non-controversial, at least when it comes to the issue of slavery, moments of expansion under Polk, and that is the Oregon Dispute. During the campaign of 1844, Polk had openly said, 54-40 or fight, the boundary of the United States is going to be at that. point on the map. And if you recall, under the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, the U.S. and England had agreed to jointly occupy Oregon Territory with England. Now, what ends up happening is more and more Americans are coming into the area along the Oregon Trail. They're making that over 2,000 mile journey. And it's a major issue in the election of 1844. Polk's laying it out there. We're going to get this territory. Well, there is no fight. There is no 54-40. Because under the Oregon Treaty of 1846, England agrees to give up its claim to that territory. And the boundary between the United States and Canada will be the 49th parallel you see on the map. Now, England does agree to do this because partly they are guaranteed fishing rights and Vancouver Island. So there is a peaceful resolution to this dispute. However, there won't be one with our beef with Mexico. And what ends up happening is, if you recall, Mexico still viewed Texas as part of Mexico. In fact, they don't recognize this Lone Star Republic. Santa Ana is very clear on this issue. And they also have an issue with the boundary. You know, is it the Rio Grande or is it the Nueces River? Well, Polk attempts to buy California from Mexico because of the whole Texas issue. The relations between the two countries is strained. And you have his boy, John Slidell. going to Mexico, trying to buy it, California, for $25 million. And basically, Mexico refuses to even consider the offer. Polk sends in Zachary Taylor into the disputed territory between Mexico and Texas, and U.S. forces are attacked in April of 1846, ultimately leading to the Mexican-American War, which will last a little under two years. Now, what's important to keep in mind is this war, which ends, is... Very, very controversial, especially amongst Northerners. Northern Whigs, and even some Northern Democrats, oppose the war. They see it as an attempt by Southerners to extend slavery into new territories. And they question, especially Abraham Lincoln, a young congressman from the North. He introduces the Spot Resolution. He basically says, yo, Polk, show us if this was actually an attack on American soil. And he's challenging. the president's assertion that we were actually attacked on American soil. You saw the controversy further when David Wilmot from, I believe, Pennsylvania, tries to put something forward called the Wilmot Proviso, which basically would have said, hey, we're going to ban slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico as a result of this war. Now, this is in 1846. They haven't even won the war, but they're pretty confident. It passes the House because Northerners have a number advantage, but it is rejected by the Senate. And what's important is Southerners view these protests from the North with increasing suspicion. Northerners are trying to attack or prevent our Southern way of life. While the war does take place, it is horrible for Mexico. They lose most of the major battles, and it ends with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, and it does a number of things. Basically, the United States territory increases by one-third. The United States is given California, New Mexico, and the rest of the Southwest, which includes places like Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and so on. The United States also gets Mexico to agree to give up its claims to Texas, and they do agree to accept the Rio Grande as the border between the two nations. For Mexico, this is devastating. About half of Mexican territory is... taken. And this is going to create a huge strain on the relationship between these two countries. And more importantly than that, for a push, is this is going to create new problems. Because as these new territories are added to the Union, it's going to force the issue of slavery back into the center of national politics. That's the summary of Tyler and Polk in chapter 17 for the American Paget and some of those other chapters. Hopefully you learned some stuff and you're going to get that five on that a push exam if you haven't already done So make sure you subscribe to Joe's production. It's on sale today You could do it for free and if it helped you out the video at all click like and post a comment said thanks, brah Thanks man, appreciate it, and you all have a wonderful day. Peace.

The Whigs pick William Henry Harrison as their candidate, the war hero from Tippecanoe. and his vice president is actually a former Democrat by the name of John Tyler. And because of some personal beef with Andrew Jackson, he leaves the Democrat Party and joins the Whig ticket in 1840. They win, got a cool slogan, Tippecanoe and Tyler too, and unfortunately for your homeboy William Henry Harrison, after 32 days in office, he dies, gives a super long inaugural address, and just dies, shortest term president ever.

Now the problem is, William Henry Harrison is now dead, the first president to die while in office, 1841, and the Whig Party starts having beef with the new president, John Tyler. So the vice president becomes president, but he holds many Democrat beliefs. He's a Jacksonian at heart, state rights kind of guy.

And he starts causing all sorts of problems for the Whig Party because he blocks some of their goals. For example, he... vetoes a bill to re-up the National Bank. He puts a bill in place to end the independent treasury system. And the Whig party, especially people like Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, are all angry.

His entire cabinet resigns. Now, Tyler, a man without kind of a party, the Whigs don't want him, the Democrats don't want him. He tries to build a following by annexing Texas. Remember, Andrew Jackson had recognized the Lone Star Republic. Martin Van Buren, though, and Jackson were not interested in bringing up that controversy of trying to annex Texas.

Tyler does. It is defeated by Whigs in Congress. They don't want any more slave states added to the Union.

So in 1844, Tyler basically is out. No one wants him. The dark horse candidate is James K. Polk.

He comes out of nowhere. He's running against the political veteran Henry Clay under the Whig Party. And Polk wins. Now Polk, one of the issues he brings up in the election is the annexation of Texas.

He wants to do it and it's going to happen in 1845. Now here's what goes down. Polk wants to annex Texas, talks about it during the campaign as a goal that would benefit the entire nation, but it's actually lame duck President John Tyler who submits a treaty just as he's about to leave office. And he does this by a joint resolution, because under a joint resolution through Congress, you only need a majority, not the two-thirds approval of the Senate, which is the normal route that most annexation treaties take.

So Tyler annexes Texas just before Polk takes office, but Polk has some goals of his own. One, he wants to lower the tariff. He's a Democrat.

The Whigs kind of favor the higher tariffs. He's also from the South. He wants to lower that bad boy.

Two, a big thing. Manifest Destiny National Expansion. And he has some places in mind. Oregon during the campaign he talks about 54-40 year fight.

He's going to take that from England. He's going to annex Texas. Tyler kind of pre-empts that and does it first. And he also wants to acquire California. And it's worth taking a look at this idea of Manifest Destiny.

It's a basic belief that it was America's destiny to conquer and civilize. the entire continent from the east coast to the west coast. And in this, there is a certain level of built-in white superiority belief in this idea. This idea that the continent, the people that are on it, are not civilized and that we are the ones to conquer it and to bring civilization to the entire continent.

It's ignoring that there are Native Americans there in Mexico, in England, and other groups. The term Manifest Destiny was first coined by John O'Sullivan in 1845, a newspaper editor, but it's important to keep in mind, Western expansion had been going on for a very long time. If you really want to get technical, from the moment the colonies, you know, are founded back in 1607 and onward, we've been moving west. And with that comes problems, but we've seen this even in the early nation's history. 1803, we have the Louisiana Purchase under Thomas Jefferson.

That brings up issues such as the Missouri entering the Union, we have the Missouri Compromise, Jackson's Indian removal policies in the 1830s. These are all examples of the United States moving west, occupying new land. But what happens in the 1840s? is the issue of slavery is going to complicate western expansion more and more frequently. So in 1820, that compromise resolved it, but it's going to pop back up.

Let's talk about one of the non-controversial, at least when it comes to the issue of slavery, moments of expansion under Polk, and that is the Oregon Dispute. During the campaign of 1844, Polk had openly said, 54-40 or fight, the boundary of the United States is going to be at that. point on the map. And if you recall, under the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, the U.S. and England had agreed to jointly occupy Oregon Territory with England. Now, what ends up happening is more and more Americans are coming into the area along the Oregon Trail.

They're making that over 2,000 mile journey. And it's a major issue in the election of 1844. Polk's laying it out there. We're going to get this territory.

Well, there is no fight. There is no 54-40. Because under the Oregon Treaty of 1846, England agrees to give up its claim to that territory. And the boundary between the United States and Canada will be the 49th parallel you see on the map. Now, England does agree to do this because partly they are guaranteed fishing rights and Vancouver Island.

So there is a peaceful resolution to this dispute. However, there won't be one with our beef with Mexico. And what ends up happening is, if you recall, Mexico still viewed Texas as part of Mexico. In fact, they don't recognize this Lone Star Republic.

Santa Ana is very clear on this issue. And they also have an issue with the boundary. You know, is it the Rio Grande or is it the Nueces River?

Well, Polk attempts to buy California from Mexico because of the whole Texas issue. The relations between the two countries is strained. And you have his boy, John Slidell.

going to Mexico, trying to buy it, California, for $25 million. And basically, Mexico refuses to even consider the offer. Polk sends in Zachary Taylor into the disputed territory between Mexico and Texas, and U.S. forces are attacked in April of 1846, ultimately leading to the Mexican-American War, which will last a little under two years. Now, what's important to keep in mind is this war, which ends, is...

Very, very controversial, especially amongst Northerners. Northern Whigs, and even some Northern Democrats, oppose the war. They see it as an attempt by Southerners to extend slavery into new territories.

And they question, especially Abraham Lincoln, a young congressman from the North. He introduces the Spot Resolution. He basically says, yo, Polk, show us if this was actually an attack on American soil. And he's challenging.

the president's assertion that we were actually attacked on American soil. You saw the controversy further when David Wilmot from, I believe, Pennsylvania, tries to put something forward called the Wilmot Proviso, which basically would have said, hey, we're going to ban slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico as a result of this war. Now, this is in 1846. They haven't even won the war, but they're pretty confident. It passes the House because Northerners have a number advantage, but it is rejected by the Senate. And what's important is Southerners view these protests from the North with increasing suspicion.

Northerners are trying to attack or prevent our Southern way of life. While the war does take place, it is horrible for Mexico. They lose most of the major battles, and it ends with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, and it does a number of things.

Basically, the United States territory increases by one-third. The United States is given California, New Mexico, and the rest of the Southwest, which includes places like Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and so on. The United States also gets Mexico to agree to give up its claims to Texas, and they do agree to accept the Rio Grande as the border between the two nations. For Mexico, this is devastating.

About half of Mexican territory is... taken. And this is going to create a huge strain on the relationship between these two countries. And more importantly than that, for a push, is this is going to create new problems.

Because as these new territories are added to the Union, it's going to force the issue of slavery back into the center of national politics. That's the summary of Tyler and Polk in chapter 17 for the American Paget and some of those other chapters. Hopefully you learned some stuff and you're going to get that five on that a push exam if you haven't already done So make sure you subscribe to Joe's production. It's on sale today You could do it for free and if it helped you out the video at all click like and post a comment said thanks, brah Thanks man, appreciate it, and you all have a wonderful day.

Peace.

Transcript for:Tyler and Polk: A Pivotal Era

Transcript for:
Tyler and Polk: A Pivotal Era