Five Minute History Lessons

James K. Polk - Part II

2011-03-07T22:02:00.000-07:00

With an economy on shaky ground and major wars looming on two borders, no one would have faulted President James K. Polkfrom having modest goals. But Polk did not become President to do modest things. He brought to the White House a vision of what America could be, and a specific plan on how to make that happen.

Oregon was the starting point. The Americans and the British both had long established claims, and neither was about to budge. America wanted to extend from sea to shining sea, while the British wanted the fishing rights and ability to use the navigable waterways of the Columbia River. President Polk offered a compromise: extend the existing US-Canada all the way to Puget Sound. The British would get to keep what is now British Columbia, Vancouver Island, and would be allowed free navigation of the Columbia River for 20 years. America would receive full title to what is now Washington and Oregon states.

Britain did not want to give up its claim to the Oregon lands, but was not willing to go to war to defend territory halfway around the world. Polk exploited their desire to avoid another war (knowing that the British were again fighting with the French) and offered them a way to save face. Had the British rejected the offer, Polk assured them, he would just send an army to wipe out the British settlements and forts and claim the whole territory. Once assured that Polk was going to get Oregon, in part or in whole, the British agreed to the compromise.

Mexico was a thornier issue. Texas wanted to be admitted as a state, but Northerners did not want a slave state to be admitted and throw off the balance of power in the Senate. The week of James Polk's inauguration, Texas was officially annexed as a part of the United States. (Iowa was quickly granted statehood to maintain the North-South balance.) Once Texas was annexed, Mexico broke off relations with the US. Mexico and Texas had a disputed border that neither side had been able or willing to enforce.

James Polk stepped in to enforce the border. He sent an army unit across the Nueces River into the disputed zone and set up shop near the Rio Grande, daring Mexico to attack them. Mexico did attack and this attack "on American soldiers on American soil" led to the Mexican-American War. Polk organized several armies and sent one south from Texas, one by sea to Veracruz, and one west across what is now New Mexico and Arizona to California. The Mexican army was quickly defeated, despite some minor victories. The war came to an effective end when the US Army occupied Mexico City.

The Treaty of Guadelupe-Hidalgo finalized the Mexico-Texas border as the Rio Grande and gave the US all of the territory that now includes New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, and Utah. In exchange for taking this land, the US agreed to pay Mexico. To protect their dignity, I suppose.

At the end of his four year term, James Polk had brought America nearly to the shape it is today. He brought more land under the stars and stripe than any President except Thomas Jefferson. He took a nation worried about its future and showed them their Manifest Destiny. If not for his poor health, there is no doubt that James Polk would have been elected to a second term. With that second term, he would be elevated to the ranks of our greatest Presidents. Instead, he is the Greatest President that no one has ever heard of.

James K. Polk - American Leader

2011-01-25T21:19:00.001-07:00

The State of the Union Address has become a gigantic waste of time. It's a chance for the President to pontificate and for the media to fawn over proposals and ideas. It changes nothing. And a week later, the country is in the same place it was before. But it was not always this way. There once was a time when Presidents were leaders; men of action who chose their course, not by recent polling, but by the strength of their convictions.

In 1844, James K. Polkwas elected President of the United States. The country, and even his own political party, were deeply divided over the issues facing the country. The country was in the middle of financial upheaval and was facing border disputes, and possibly war, with both Mexico and England.

The dispute with the British centered on Oregon. Both British and Americans had explored, claimed, navigated, and settled the area that now makes up Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. Predictably, neither nation wanted to give up their claims to rich farm land and acres of resources and navigable rivers. But the American people were in the throws of "Manifest Destiny" and were convinced that America had superior claim to the land. Anything short of the full Americanization of the Oregon Territory was anathema to them.

Meanwhile, Texaswas an independant nation that wanted to join the United States. They had broken away from Mexico earlier, but were still trying to be admitted to the Union. The question of whether or not Texas would be a slave state slowed down their application. But there was also a border issue. Texas, and the United States, felt that the southern border was the Rio Grande. Mexico thought that the Nueces River, to the north, was the boundary. The territory between the Rio Grande and the Nueces was almost uninhabited, but the issue still was in the back of everyone's minds. Mexico opposed the admission of Texas to the U.S., fearing that its northern neighbor was moving to close for comfort. Polk had been elected, in part, by his stated intentions to bring Texas into the Union but Mexico was not going to let that happen quietly.

What is a President to do? If he had taken a poll of the American people...there would have been no clear answer. The people were bitterly divided, and no one wanted a war agaisnt both Mexico and England.

What did President Polk do? The answer will be in the next post. :)

Labor Day - A Political Bribe?

2011-01-19T21:33:00.000-07:00

What does Labor Day mean to you? Most likely, it simply signals the end of the summer and another day off of work. Outside of labor unions, few associate Labor day with the organized labor movement. It's just a day off.

In 1894, President Grover Clevelandsent in the US Army to put down a labor strike involving the Pullmanrailroad cars and their operators. Railroads were the major means of transportation at the time, so a strike paralyzed much of the nation. Cleveland saw it as such a critical area that he ordered the Army to break the strike. But just as the Army is not designed or trained to build roads or distribute food, the Army is not trained to be effective strike breakers. Then, as now, the Army trains to kill people and break things. Predictably to everyone but President Cleveland, this did not end well.

By the time the dust had settled, the strike had been broken, but several striking unionistas had been killed. The unions, already mad at being cut off by the President, were not enraged that their comrades had been gunned down at the direction of "the man".

Fearing labor retaliation, and a looming election, Cleveland moved fast. Within 6 days, Congress had passed and Cleveland signed legislation making Labor Day a federally recognized holiday. And today we get a nice day in early September to relax and not work.

Incidentally, labor unions still pilloried Cleveland and he lost his reelection bid.

Alexander Hamilton: Rogue or Patriot?

2010-12-21T20:16:00.001-07:00

So exactly why is Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill? Washington, Lincoln, Eisenhower, Kennedy. Nearly every person on a dollar bill or coin was a former President of the United States. But not Alexander Hamilton. So why the great honor?

Hamilton was born out of wedlock on a Caribbean island in the 1750s. With no fortune to inherit and an illegitimacy to cover up, Hamilton emigrated to New England when in his teens. During the Revolutionary War he was an aide to George Washington. Less of a military genius and more of a fantastic organizer, Washington thought very highly of Hamilton.

After the war, Hamilton returned to his true area of expertise - finance. Hamilton was a strong proponent of a powerful central government in the fledgling nation. He felt it was the only way that the American economy would be able to compete with the British. During the debates on whether or not to ratify the Constitution, Hamilton was one of the co-authors of the Federalist papers, which were a driving force behind ratification.

Once the Constitution was in place and George Washington elected the first President, he appointed Alexander Hamilton to be the nations first Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton had nearly free reign to design a government, and a banking system, to his liking. He established America as a credit-worthy nation around the world and established the first mint.

Hamilton remained a major player in national politics his entire life. At one point, he was instrumental in Aaron Burr's defeat in a New York gubernatorial election. Burr, by then the Vice President of the United States, later heard that Hamilton had insulted him at a dinner party. Feeling his honor had been diminished, Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel .

When the day came, Hamilton purposely fired high, striking a branch over Burr's head. Burr's shot hit Hamilton just above the pelvis, ricocheting through his torso. Hamilton died just a few days later, leaving a legacy that can best be remembered by looking at his picture on a $10 bill.

Have the French Always Surrendered?

2010-12-11T21:00:00.001-07:00

In the early days of Google, so the story goes, a search for the words "french military victory" prompted the question, "Did you mean 'french military defeat'?" The 20th century featured much that could lead one to ask that question, but has it always been so? Or is French military ineptitude and surrender a recent development?

In the 9th century, when the concept of "France" was just beginning to develop, the major world power was the Vikings . In 885 the Vikings rowed their longboats up to Paris and laid siege. This was not their first trip to Paris . In several previous visits over the prior 40 years had all ended the same way: the Vikings only left when they had gathered enough bribes or plunder to fill their boats. This time, the Vikings laid siege because the Parisians, were convinced of their strength. Moreover, they had a strong king, Charles the Fat, who would come to their defense.

The Vikings laid siege for a nearly a full year to the island city of Paris. They were eventually scattered when Charles arrived on scene with a much larger army. But even with his numerical superiority and "home field" advantage, Charles the Fat had no intention of fighting the Vikings. Instead he paid them 700 pounds of silver to row downriver and attack Burgundy, where the people were revolting against his reign.

The Vikings got the plunder they craved, and Paris survived another day. It makes me wonder if the phrase "go along to get along" has a French analog...

A (Literal) Political Beating

2010-12-05T15:45:00.001-07:00

It is commonly agreed upon that the current political discourse is "too divisive." Nothing puts the lie to this description quite like the caning of a U.S. Senator on the floor of the Senate.

In 1856, the political passions that would lead to the Civil War were already running high. Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts gave a speech describing Senator Andrew Butler of South Carolina in the following terms:

"He has chosen a mistress to whom he has made his vows, and who, though ugly to others, is always lovely to him; though polluted in the sight of the world, is chaste in his sight, I mean the Harlot - Slavery!"

Days later, Sumner was approached on the floor of the U.S. Senate by Preston Brooks, a Congressman from South Carolina and a cousin of Senator Butler.

"I have read your speech over twice, carefully," Brooks said. "It is a libel on South Carolina, and Senator Butler, who is a relative of mine." Brooks then raised his walking stick into the air and brought it down forcefully on the head of the seated Senator Sumner.

Sumner fell from his chair and was trapped between his chair and an immovable desk, as Brooks repeatedly beat him about the head with the cane. As Sumner finally broke free, the cane broke in half. Not satisfied, Brooks continued to club the bleeding Senator with the splintered butt of his cane.

As Sumner lay half conscious, Brooks calmly walked down the aisle, stating, "I did not intend to kill him, but I did intend to whip him."

Charles Sumner spent several years visiting the best doctors in the world for medical treatment and, for many years, walked and spoke as if he had suffered a stroke.

Preston Brooks achieved a unwanted level of notoriety in the South. But he had been raised in a society where a man may have to render physical account for any words he had spoken and Preston Brooks had no doubt that Sumner would not accept the challenge of a duel. With the only acceptable option to Brooks being a cane or a horsewhip, he chose to honor his culture and caned his way into the history books.

So the next time someone complains that politics is too "mean spirited" or "divisive", ask them if they are familiar with the unfortunate tale of the Caning of Senator Charles Sumner.

The Caning of Charles Sumner: Honor, Idealism, and the Origins of the Civil War (Witness to History)