Antebellum America
Jack Caleb Sarah
Presidents of Antebellum
America
William Harrison-(Only Served 40 days)
John Tyler
James K. Polk
Zachary Taylor
Millard Fillmore
Franklin Pierce
James Buchanan
John Tyler
John Tyler was the 10th president of the United States serving from 1841-1845 for the Whig party. He was the first
Vice President to be put into office after the death of his predecessor William Harrison. “Tippecanoe and Tyler
Too” was the famous slogan for Tyler and Harrison (used to be a song though slogan is better remembered.) When
Tyler took office he rejected many of the Whigs proposals and angered the Whigs especially when he vetoed their
proposal for creating a new national bank. This eventually caused the Whigs to disavow him leaving Tyler without
a party. The Whigs also believed he overused his power to veto and there was an attempt to impeach him but the
resolution failed with Tyler still in office. Tyler still did manage to make many decisions with his time as President.
During his presidency Tyler was able to sign the Webster-Ashburton treaty that resolved the United States and
Canadian border at the 45th parallel Tyler signed the Pre-Emption Act, which helped strengthen Western
settlement by allowing a person to stake a claim on 160 acres of public land and purchase it from the government.
He also settled border disputes between the US and Britain with the Webster-Ashburton treaty. He also signed the
bill that annexed Texas into the Union.
James K. Polk
James Polk was the 11th president of the United States from 1845-1849. Polk was a member of the
Democratic party and on his platform Polk was all about expansion. He spoke in support of the
annexation of Texas and the acquirement of New Mexico, California and Oregon. After he was
elected Polk tried to annex Texas but Mexico refused to recognize the annexation. The refusal for
annexation led to a sweeping victory of the Mexican War and the creation of the Treaty of
Guadalupe-Hidalgo. Polk also was able to negotiate with the British for the acquirement of the
Oregon territory by splitting the territory with Britain. Polk also tried to appeal to both the North
and South by allowing slavery in the newly formed Texas and not allowing slavery in the Oregon
territory.Polk approved a law restoring the Independent Treasury System where government
funds were held in a Treasury instead of banks or other financial institutions.
Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor was the 12th president of the United States serving from 1849-1850 under the Whig
party. Taylor was elected for being a war hero in the Mexican-War despite his vague political
beliefs. Taylor kept his distance with Congress and his cabinet throughout his presidency.Debate
over the slave status of the large territories claimed in the Mexican War led to threats of secession
from Southerners. And even as a southern slaveholder himself Taylor never pushed for the
expansion of slavery. But the question of slavery was a difficult one so to avoid it Taylor asked that
California and New Mexico to skip the territorial step and draft constitutions and apply for
statehood. His top priority was preserving the Union but his term was cut short after he died only
16 months in office.
Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore was the 13th president of the United States serving from 1850-1853. He was
originally the Vice President to Taylor and was a part of the Whig party. During the Crisis of 1850
Fillmore was opposed to exclusion of slavery in all gained territories but instead was in favor of
the Compromise of 1850. The Compromise of 1850 was a package of 5 bills that helped to diffuse
confrontation between North and South. At the time Texas was asking for debts to be paid by the
government and they were holding onto New Mexican territory. Fillmore in response agreed to
pay the debt but Texas had to give the New Mexican territory. The compromise made both the
North and South satisfied except for a small few.
Franklin Pierce
14th president of the United States as a serving from 1853-1857 as a
democrat. He was from the North but he had southern sympathies
otherwise known as a “doughface.” Pierce was widely criticized by the North
because of his support of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Pierce was also
criticized with his administrations creation of the Ostend Manifesto. Pierce
also wanted to open up trade with the isolated Japan to gain an advantage
over the British.
James Buchanan
James Buchanan was the 15th president of the United states from 1857-1861.
He was a part of the Democratic party and another “doughface.” Buchanan
tried to maintain the peace between both the North and the South but only
further divided the two sides leaving the South to secede. Buchanan
believed that the secession was illegal but also that going to war to put an
end to it was also illegal.
Mexican War
The Mexican War was a war that in the end granted the United States a
significant amount of land after the war had ended. It erupted in 1846 after
Texas had called for annexation. The issue being that Mexico considered
Texas a part of their territory despite the Texas Revolution in 1836 so they
refused to recognize the annexation. American and Mexican forces then
went to war with each other and with American invasion of Mexico and
capture of Mexico City the United States was victorious. Unfortunately the
political aftermath of the war was great. It raised the slavery issue in the
United States over how slavery should be handled in new territories leading
to serious debates that pointed towards civil war.
Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the peace treaty that was signed between
the United States and Mexico to end the Mexican War. The United States
was to pay $15 million to Mexico and pay off the claims of American citizens
against Mexico up to$3.25 million. It set the boundary between Mexico and
Texas and also granted the US a significant amount of territory including
California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and parts of Colorado and New Mexico.
90% of the Mexicans who were given the choice to go back to Mexico stayed.
With all of the new territory gained which ones were going to be allowed to
uphold slavery. This acquirement of all the new territory increased tension
between the North and the South.
Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso was introduced by
Congressman David Wilmot. The Wilmot
Proviso would have banned all slavery in any
of the new land that was to be acquired after
the Mexican War or anytime in the future.
The bill was passed in the house but failed in
the Senate. It helped to lead up to the civil
war
Abolitionist Movement
The abolitionist movement was very strong in the North. In the North it was
all about industry and the industrial areas had no need for slaves to work so
slavery was non-existent and many saw it as an evil. There were people who
spoke publicly of the evils of slavery such as William Lloyd Garrison who
was the founder for the Liberator and Arthur Tippan. The abolitionist
movement in the South of course was minimal due to the heavy reliance on
slavery and cotton. The abolitionist movement was also a key factor in the
setting of the Civil War. There were even major publications that were
written about the atrocities of slavery.
Slavery
Slavery was an important part of the economy in the South and many slave
owners had tactics such as using the Bible to justify their need for slavery.
They used several verses such as "Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters
with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to
those who are harsh" or “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and
fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ” Because
religion was such a significant part of peoples lives in the antebellum many
slave owners felt they were justified because slavery was mentioned in the
Bible. And without slavery the economy would suffer greatly and the
plantation owners of the South didn’t want to see that happen.
American Anti-Slavery
Society
The American Anti-Slavery Society was active during the Abolitionist
movement and by 1840 it had over 150,000 members. There were several
prominent members in the American Anti-Slavery Society including
William Lloyd Garrison, Theodore Dwight Weld, Arthur Tappan and Louis
Tappan. They argued on religious and natural grounds that all individuals
had the right to Liberty. In 1839, the group split into two factions: one
branch followed Garrison, denounced the Constitution, and joined ranks
with women’s rights efforts. The other branch, led by Louis Tappan, formed
the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society and honored the
Constitution while not insisting on immediate change.
Supreme Court Decisions
Dred Scott v. Sandford was a significant case in the issue of
slavery. In discussed whether an African American was an
American citizen free or not therefore had no standing to sue in federal
court,and that the federal government had no power to regulate slavery in
the federal territories acquired after the creation of the United States. Dred
Scott was a slave who was taken to free states and territories and tried to
sue for his freedom. But unfortunately the Supreme Court denied Scotts
request.
Isolationism
The United States was a new country and they were
looking to expand but not by intervening in others wars
or joining alliances with other countries. The United
States wanted to uphold its policy of Isolationism and
they were also geographically separated from many
major powers and did not feel the need to intervene. The
US was able to gain new land nearby all while avoiding
the confrontation with the European powers.
Expansionism
During the antebellum time period there were many
pushes towards the West. Slavery was also a big need for
expansionism because the issue was so divided the antislavery (North) and pro-slavery (South) groups were
looking for the upper hand and looking West provided
them with that upper hand because they could use the
territories to balance the scales in the government.
Free Soil Party
The free soil party was a very short lived political party from 1848 to 1854
though really only active in the presidential elections of 1848 and and 1852.
The party members included those of anti-slavery Whigs and Democrats
and the party was founded in New York. The party was mainly founded to
prevent the expansion of slavery into the new Western Territories. They
believed that free men on free soil comprised a morally and economically
superior system to slavery. They agreed with the Wilmot Proviso. They
emerged after the Mexican War but were eventually absorbed by the
republican party.
Whigs
The Whigs believed that Congress should be stronger than the President.
They were similar to the republican party in many ways. They promoted
things such as industry and tariffs on imported goods. The Whigs were also
in support of banks things that would modernize the economy and society.
Most wealthy white men were whigs and the support for the Whigs usually
came from cities.
Know-Nothing
The Know Nothing party was a nativist group who were opposed to
immigration and especially resented the Catholics. They had originally been
very secretive and when they were asked about their certain activities, they
would respond with “I know nothing” which is how the party name came to
be.
Democratic
The Democrats were a political party that believed in small government and
States’ rights. They were economically conservative opposing things such as
The National Bank and paper currency and were opposed to tariffs because
they believed it helped the rich. Their support usually came from farmers
and rural areas. Also consisted of urban immigrants and Catholics
Republican
The republicans formed after the Whigs party dissolved. They adopted much
of the Whig platform, supporting things like industry and urban growth.
They also opposed the expansion of slavery into the western territories, but
did not call for abolition. Their support consisted of mostly people from the
north and those who were business men. It also consisted of many African
Americans.
Amendments
The Bill of Rights had heavy influence on the
subject of slavery. The 10th amendment
allowed for states rights giving each state the
power to choose whether it would permit
slavery or not. Especially after the Treaty of
Guadalupe-Hidalgo did this become
significant and increasing tensions causing
each group to fight to permit or not permit
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Uncle Tom’s Cabin was very influential in the
abolitionist movement in the United States. It
opened the eyes of many people especially
Northerners of the evils of slavery. While it
gained popularity and was praised in the
North the South was angered at the viewpoint
of the book.
The Liberator
The Liberator was a very influential abolitionist
newspaper created by William Lloyd Garrison. The
Liberator opened the eyes of many people mostly those
of the North to the wrongs of slavery. But the newspaper
was also very controversial in the South with it publicly
speaking out against slavery The Liberator called for
immediate emancipation of slavery throughout the
nation. The paper continued for over 30 years from 18311865
Cotton Gin
Before the introduction of the cotton gin cotton took a considerable amount of time to clean and
separate the fibers from the seeds. Once Eli Whitney, the creator of the cotton gin, designed the
machine it made cotton an incredibly profitable business in the South. Because of this the South
then began to rely heavily on the need for plantations and slaves. With the production of cotton
having increased significantly the number of slaves also increased significantly. It was a
revolutionary machine for the plantation owners for the south and the southern economy was now
dependent on the production of cotton and the need for slaves. Ironically Eli Whitney who was a
yankee, by perfecting the cotton gin, made slavery of greater importance and probably made the
Civil War that much more likely.
Interchangeable Parts
The interchangeable parts became the basis of
modern mass-production, assembly-line
methods. They gave the ability to a host of
other new Innovations like the Colt Revolver.
It also gave to the North the vast industrial
plant that provided greater military
importance over that of the South.