1. United states History i
The Age of Jackson: Tyler, Polk, and the War with Mexico

2. John Tyler
Virginia
One of the top five presidents in American history, but largely forgotten.
Assumed office in 1841 after the death of William H. Harrison.
A true American “Whig.”

3. John Tyler and the “Whig” Program
Opposed federally funded internal improvements.
Opposed a protective tariff.
Twice vetoed the reincorporation of a central banking system.
Was a “Whig” in the truest sense: he opposed Andrew Jackson (the “king”) because Jackson was arrogating power to the executive branch while concurrently weakening State power and the federal compact. The “American System” of Henry Clay did the same thing; thus to Tyler, and many Southern “Whigs,” Jackson and Clay were two shades of the same color. They both believed in unconstitutional legislation.

4. Henry Clay and the National Republicans/Whigs
Hamiltonian system
Expel Tyler from the Whig Party.
Most of Tyler’s cabinet then resigns after Tyler refuses to let them run the show.
They start referring to Tyler as “His Accidency.”

5. Tyler accepts their resignations and reorganizes his cabinet by appointing many of his Southern friends, including John C. Calhoun and Abel P. Upshur, to cabinet positions.
The State’s Rights faction of the Whig Party.

6. Abel Parker Upshur
Virginia
Leading constitutional scholar among the Southern State’s Rights Whig faction.
Directly refuted Joseph Story’s version of the Constitution in his A Brief Enquiry into the True Nature of Our Federal Government.
Supported the VA and KY Resolutions of 1798

7. Texas
Texas was the defining foreign policy issue of the Tyler administration.
It had been a goal of many Americans to annex Texas for years, and Americans had a vested interest in Texas beginning in the 1820s.
By the mid-1840s, Texas had been a sovereign State (such as the State of Great Britain) for almost a decade.

8. Mexico and Texas
Texas was once part of both Spain and later Mexico after Mexico gained its independence in 1821.
Americans were invited into Texas by Spain beginning in 1821, but the situation was made delicate by Mexican independence.
Thus began a long, strained relationship between Mexican leaders and American settlers.

9. Stephen F. Austin
The “Father of Texas”
Began American settlement on his father’s claims to land in Texas.
Brought the first 300 families to Texas in the 1820s.

10. 1836
Texas declares its independence from Mexico.
The Republic of Texas and war with Mexico.

11. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna
President, General, and Dictator of Mexico
Led Mexican forces against Texas in 1836.

12. Sam Houston
General, President of Texas, United States Senator from Texas.
Hero of the Texas War for Independence.
Led Texan forces away from the Alamo in 1836.

13. The Alamo
An old Spanish Mission that later became famous as a stronghold for Texan forces during the 1836 Battle of the Alamo.

14. James Bowie
Hero of the Battle of the Alamo
Co-commander of the fort.
Legendary fame, particularly for the “Bowie Knife.”

15. William B. Travis
Claiborne, Alabama
Leader of the forces at the Alamo in 1836.
The famous “line in the sand.”

16. Fellow citizens and compatriots;
I am besieged, by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna. I have sustained a continual Bombardment and cannonade for 24 hours and have not lost a man. The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken. I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. I shall never surrender or retreat. Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism & everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with all dispatch. The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily and will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country. Victory or Death. William Barret Travis Lt. Col. Comdt.

17. David Crockett
Folk Hero, “King of the Wild Frontier”
Frontiersman, war hero, member of the United States Congress, later killed at the Alamo.

18. Battle of the Alamo February 23 to March 6, 1836
The old Spanish Mission would be besieged by the Mexican army in an attempt to root out the Texan occupiers.
The Mexican army, led by Santa Anna, outnumbered the Texan garrison by almost 10-1: 2400 to around 200.
All Texan participants in the battle would be killed, including Bowie and Crockett. There would also be around 600 Mexican casualties.
“Remember the Alamo!”

19. Battle of San Jacinto
1836
Sam Houston would lead Santa Anna on a chase around Texas which would culminate in the Battle of San Jacinto in April 1836.
It took 18 minutes to defeat Santa Anna’s forces.
Story of the Yellow Rose of Texas.

20. Results
Texas wins its independence and maintains that independence from 1836 to 1845.
Calls for annexation into the United States.
Rejected by many Northerners who fear the addition of many new slave States.
Would upset the balance of power in the Senate, the real issue behind the slavery “question” in the mid-19th century.
Tyler achieves the annexation of Texas in 1845 through a joint resolution of Congress. Unconstitutional?

21. 1844 Election Whigs: Henry Clay Democrats: James K. Polk
As in 1824, Clay attempts to cut a deal with the presumed candidate for the Democrats, Martin Van Buren, to not discuss foreign policy during the campaign, but Van Buren is not nominated and therefore his deal falls apart.

22. James K. Polk TN
“Young Hickory”
Annexation of Texas
“All of Oregon: or Fight!”
Tariff Reduction and an Independent Treasury
Manifest Destiny
Real Objective: California and the Pacific

24. War and Oregon Polk almost rushes into two concurrent wars.
Antagonizes “John Bull” (Great Britain) over Oregon, though he will settle the Oregon border at the 49th parallel in 1846 (a position that had been negotiated before his bungling term in office).
Wants California and sends a secret mission to Mexico to purchase the territory. When Mexico refuses to budge, he devises another plan: war.

25. The Mexican War
First instance of executive deception with the intent of goading the United States into a war.
Polk sends Zachary Taylor into the disputed zone between Texas and Mexico.
The Mexican army attacks Taylor in June 1846 and Polk responds with a request for a declaration of war, stating blood has been shed on “American soil.”
Congress declares war on Mexico within the week.

26. Opposition to the War
Whigs and Abolitionists: Generally, the Whig Party opposed the War (though the two most popular generals, Winfield Scott and Zachary Taylor were both Whigs) and called it “Mr. Polk’s War.”
Abolitionists feared the addition of several slave States to the Union. “The Slave Power.”
Joshua Giddings: The war was unholy and unjust.

27. John C. Calhoun
The “Slave Power?” The presumed Southern “defender of slavery” opposed the war.
“I saw from the circumstances under which the war was made, a total departure form that course of policy which had governed the country from the commencement of our Government until that time; and this, too, under circumstances calculated to lead to most disastrous consequences.” 1847
Against the conquest of Mexico.

28. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
1848
Ends the Mexican War.
United States acquire the Mexican cession for $15 million, which include California and the disputed area between Texas and Mexico.
United States agrees to assume Texan claims against the Mexican government for $3.5 million.
13,000 American deaths in the war, 90 percent from disease.