1. Ms. Susan M. Pojer Horace Greeley H. S. Chappaqua, NY
The Election
of 1840
Ms. Susan M. Pojer Horace Greeley H. S. Chappaqua, NY

2. DEMS  Martin Van Buren

3. Van Buren Taking the Blame for His Own and Jackson's Monetary Policies

4. DEMS  Richard Mentor Johnson, VP

5. WHIGS  William Henry Harrison

6. WHIGS  John Tyler, VP

7. “Tippecanoe, and Tyler, Too!”

8. “Log Cabin” Campaign Pin, 1840

9. “Log Cabin & Cider” Campaign

10. “Stop That Barrel”

11. William Henry Harrison Campaign Song
“Tip and Tye” (Words and Music by "A member of the Fifth Ward Club“, published 1840)
What has caus'd this great com-mo-tion, mo-tion, mot-ion our coun-try through, It is the ball that's rol-ling on, For Tip-pi-ca-noe, and Ty-ler too,
For Tip-pi-ca-noe, and Ty-ler too, And with them we'll beat lit-tle Van, Van, Van is a us'd up man, And with them we'll beat lit-tle Van.

12. 1840 Election Results

13. “His Accidency”
Harrison's death left Tyler, the federal government, and the American nation briefly confused on the process of succession. It was not until 1967, that Tyler's action of assuming full powers of the presidency was legally codified in the Twenty-fifth Amendment.
Preemptive Act 1841: Specifically, it permitted squatters on government land who were heads of households, widows, or single men over 21; who were citizens of the United States, or intended to become naturalized; and who had lived there for at least 14 months to purchase up to 160 acres (65 hectares) at a very low price (not less than $1.25 per acre) before the land was offered for sale to the public.
The act was widely utilized by settlers in Kansas Territory and Nebraska Territory, which were opened to settlement in After the Homestead Act was enacted in 1862, claims under the Preemption Act sharply decreased. The Preemption Act was repealed in 1891.

14. “His Accidency” Tyler and his cabinet
He quickly found himself at odds with his former political supporters. Harrison had been expected to adhere closely to Whig Party policies and work closely with Whig leaders, particularly Henry Clay.
Tyler shocked Congressional Whigs by vetoing virtually the entire Whig agenda, twice vetoing Clay's legislation for a national banking act following the Panic of 1837 and leaving the government deadlocked.
Tyler was officially expelled from the Whig Party in 1841, a few months after taking office, and became known as "the man without a party." The entire cabinet he had inherited from Harrison resigned in September, aside from Daniel Webster, Secretary of State,

15. “His Accidency”
The Webster-Ashburton Treaty, signed August 9, 1842, settled the dispute over the location of the Maine-New Brunswick border between the United States and Canada, then a colony of Britain.
It also established the details of the border between Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods, originally defined in the Treaty of Paris (1783)
reaffirmed the location of the border (at the 49th parallel) in the westward frontier up to the Rocky Mountains ( originally defined in the Treaty of 1818)
called for a final end to the slave trade on the high seas, to be enforced by both signatories
agreed on terms for shared use of the Great Lakes.

16. “His Accidency” Annexation of Texas
Tyler advocated annexation of Texas to the Union.
Whigs opposed this expansion because it would upset the balance between North and South and risked war with Mexico.
However the Whigs lost the 1844 election to James K. Polk, who favored annexation.
When the Senate blocked a treaty (which needed a 2/3 vote), Tyler pushed Congress to annex Texas through an adopted joint resolution.
On March 3, Tyler sent instructions to his representative in Texas, Andrew Jackson Donelson, to announce the annexation. The next day, he left office

17. “His Accidency” May 1842, the Dorr Rebellion in Rhode Island
Tyler pondered the request of the governor and legislature to send in Federal troops to help it suppress the Dorrite insurgents.
The insurgents under Thomas Dorr had armed themselves.
Tyler called for calm on both sides, and recommended the governor enlarge the franchise to let most men vote. Tyler promised that in case an actual insurrection should break out in Rhode
Island he would employ force to aid the regular, or Charter, government.
He made it clear that federal assistance would be given, not to prevent, but only to put down insurrection, and would not be available until violence had been committed.
He did not send any federal forces. The rebels fled the state when the state militia marched
against them. With their dispersion, they accepted the expansion of suffrage.

18. The Election
of 1844

19. Dems --> James Knox Polk

20. “54º 40’, or Fight!”

21. Whigs  Henry Clay

22. 1844 Campaign Flag

23. Liberty Party  James Birney

24. “Texas Coming In”

25. Texas (the beast): I fear I cannot carry you into the Presidential Chair. Polk: Dear Texas, I knew you cannot—I wish I had rode some other horse but it is too late to repent.

26. 1844 Election Results

27. “JAMES K. POLK” by They Might Be Giants
In 1844, the Democrats were split The three nominees for the presidential candidate Were Martin Van Buren, a former president and an abolitionist James Buchanan, a moderate Lewis Cass, a general and expansionist From Nashville came a dark horse riding up He was James K. Polk, Napoleon of the Stump!

28. “JAMES K. POLK” by They Might Be Giants
Austere, severe, he held few people dear His oratory filled his foes with fear The factions soon agreed He's just the man we need To bring about victory Fulfill our Manifest Destiny And annex the land the Mexicans command And when the votes were cast the winner was Mister James K. Polk, Napoleon of the Stump!

30. “JAMES K. POLK” by They Might Be Giants
In four short years he met his every goal He seized the whole southwest from Mexico Made sure the tariffs fell And made the English sell the Oregon Territory He built an independent treasury Having done all this he sought no second term But precious few have mourned the passing of Mister James K. Polk, our eleventh president “Young Hickory,” Napoleon of the Stump!

31. Goals of Polk’s Administration
Lower the tariff.
Resolve the Oregon boundary dispute.
Restore the independent treasury.
Acquire California.