CHAPTER XXVIII

THE ASPIRATION OF THE WHIGS

1840-1848

Though Harrison was President, Clay was the recognized leader of the Whigs, and he now came forward with several "Whig reforms" which he expected to carry through Congress.

The independent treasury law should be repealed; a national bank established; a temporary loan be made to meet pressing obligations of the government; a tariff law with higher duties passed, and the proceeds of public land sales be distributed among the states.

Harrison approved the program, but suddenly, just a month after his inauguration, he died, and John Tyler, who, though elected by the Whigs, was not a Whig, succeeded at the presidency. Death had ruined the Whig program.

Clay went on with his program. The independent treasury law was repealed, and the bill was signed by the President, but he would do no more, and he faced the party with veto after veto. Clay was defeated "in the house of his friends." So the Whig leaders met and declared political war against Tyler, who boldly accepted the challenge. His Cabinet, save one member, resigned, but he summoned a new one, not composed of Whigs. The proposed Whig reforms passed, much modified from Clay's original plan.

At this time a treaty with Great Britain was pending, and Webster, the Secretary of State, remained in the Cabinet to complete it. On the 9th of August, 1842, it was signed, in Washington, by Lord Ashburton for England, and Webster for the United States. Webster then resigned. The treaty defined the boundary from the River St. Croix to the St. Lawrence; from the western point of Lake Huron to the Lake of the Woods, and imperfectly

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It

from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains. also provided for mutual action of the two governments to suppresss the slave trade.

Meanwhile, Texas had become an independent republic, in 1836. Many Americans had migrated to the new country, and at once began maneuvering for its annexation to the United States, but many northern members of Congress took alarm, for eight or ten slave states might be made out of Texas. Though as yet there was no controlling antislavery sentiment in the North, a conviction had been growing there for twenty years that the slave-holding area ought not to be increased, and that the territories should be kept free soil.

Van Buren had declined to hold any negotiations whatever leading to annexation, but Tyler, a defender of slavery, opened negotiations in secret. This much, and this only, was known. Finally, Tyler negotiated a Texas treaty and sent it to the Senate in April, 1844. It was rejected by a vote of more than two to one. But the President had gained his point. He knew that thousands favored annexation. Rejection of his treaty made the question an issue in the presidential campaign of 1844. Texas had asked for admission into the Union. What answer would the American people make? Important events had also raised another issue: the ownership and boundaries of Oregon. Russia had agreed to come no farther south than 54° 40′, and England and the United States in 1818 had agreed to a joint occupation of the country for ten years, but in 1827 they agreed to continue it till either party should give a year's notice that the joint occupancy should end. The fur companies, English and American, were competing within its borders. A young missionary, Marcus Whitman by name, sent out by the Methodist board of missions, reached the Columbia in 1835. He returned, asked for support, and a year later went back with his wife and another missionary. The way was opened, and immigrants soon followed. Their route was from Westport, Missouri, across the plains, through the passes, and down the streams to the coast. By 1840, nearly one hundred and fifty had arrived in Oregon. To counterbalance this American

influence, the Hudson Bay Company quickly brought in Canadian immigrants. England and the United States were contesting for Oregon by sending people to inhabit it.

In 1842, Whitman made a marvelous journey to Washington to tell the news that the English were taking Oregon. Five months had he been on the way, facing perils from wintry weather, from savage beasts and from more savage men, but he found neither President nor Congress much interested in Oregon. As the story of his wonderful ride of three thousand miles in midwinter spread over the country, the people took up his cause. "Let us go to Oregon, was the cry. In June, 1843, Whitman was again at Westport, with his face toward Oregon, and a thousand people were following his lead. Six thousand more came during the next two years. By this time the presidential campaign of 1844 was in full swing, and people were shouting, "Oregon, the whole or none!" "Fifty-four-forty, or fight!" "Reannex Texas!"'

The new issues puzzled some of the presidential candidates. In August, 1843, at Buffalo, New York, the Liberty party met in convention and nominated James G. Birney, of Michigan, and Thomas Morris, of Ohio. Their platform was long. In substance, it declared that slavery rested on state authority; that within the territory exclusively controlled by the United States it ought to be abolished, and that the fugitive slave act ought to be repealed.

The Democrats held their convention at Baltimore, in May, 1844, nominated James K. Polk, of Tennessee, the speaker of the House, for President, and George M. Dallas, of Pennsylvania. Their platform demanded the repeal of the late Whig law distributing the public money arising from land sales among the states, the reoccupation of Oregon, and the reannexation of Texas.

At the Whig convention, held in Baltimore, also in May, Clay was nominated for President and Theodore Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey, for Vice-President. Their platform called for a tariff for revenue and protection, for the distribution of the public land revenue, and for a single term for the presidency.

Polk came out decidedly for the "reannexation" of

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Texas and the "reoccupation" of Oregon. Clay was evasive. The Whigs were on the defensive; the Democrats went before the country with an aggressive policy.

The campaign was almost as spectacular as that recently for "Tippecanoe and Tyler too." Tyler had been renominated by a little gathering of his admirers, but he retired in favor of Polk. When the votes were counted, 1,337,243 were for Polk and Dallas; 1,299,068 for Clay and Frelinghuysen; 62,300 for Birney and Morris. Of the electoral vote, the Democratic candidates received 170; the Whig candidates 105. Both houses of Congress had a Democratic majority.

And

Tyler did not wait for Polk to add Texas to the Union. The people had spoken: "Let Texas come in." Tyler urged immediate action. Congress responded by a joint resolution for annexation. After some amendment, it passed March 1, 1845. The resolution provided that the boundaries of Texas should be left to the decision of Congress, and that four new states might be formed out of Texas, with its consent. In such states lying south of 36° 30' slavery should exist, "as the people of each state may desire"; in such lying north of this Missouri Compromise line, slavery should be prohibited. On the 29th of December, Texas was proclaimed a state of the Union by President Polk. Mexico had lost Texas in 1836. Its boundaries were still in dispute.

est.

In Oregon, the President and Congress showed less interEngland was not Mexico, and could not be treated quite so brusquely. The claim to 54° 40' was resisted by Great Britain. To admit it, left Russia, the United States, and Spain in possession of the Pacific coast. Canada would be cut off. But notice to England that the joint occupation should terminate was given by the President in June, 1846, and a treaty was signed in August. The boundary of the Northwest was established from the Rocky Mountains to the middle of the channel of Fuca's Strait, and thence to the Pacific. Oregon was at last peacefully ours.

But Texas was ours with war. Mexico claimed that the Nueces River was her eastern boundary; Texas claimed that the true boundary was along the Rio Grande. Here

was a disputed territory larger than three states as great as New York. By the resolution admitting Texas, her boundaries were to be determined by Congress. The President, supported, as he knew he would be, by Congress, promptly claimed this disputed territory. This carried our western boundary midway along the Rio Grande from its mouth to its source, and thence to the 42d parallel. As commanderin-chief of the army, the President ordered General Zachary Taylor, one of the "famous boys" of Washington's time, to march at once and occupy the disputed territory. With equal promptness, the Mexican army crossed the Rio Grande, April 24, 1846, and attacked Taylor. He sent the news to the Secretary of War. From Washington it went all over the country; "American soil invaded! General Taylor attacked by the Mexicans!" "American blood shed on American soil!''

There were thousands of Americans, chiefly Whigs, who believed that the disputed territory was Mexican soil; they had opposed "reannexation" from the start. The President, by a special message to Congress, May 11, declared: " . . We have tried every effort at reconciliation. The cup of forbearance has been exhausted. . Mexico has passed the boundary of the United States, has invaded our territory, and shed American blood upon American soil." And that, "War exists. . . by the act of Mexico herself." "Energetic and prompt measures'' were recommended.

Whigs, who opposed the whole Texas acquisition, boldly questioned the truth of the President's statements. But not all Whigs were in opposition. Congress declared war

on the 13th, and the call of the President went out for fifty thousand volunteers. On the very day war was declared, news was on the way to Washington that Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma had been fought and won, and Matamoras taken by our troops. Monterey fell into their hands September 24; General Santa Anna was repulsed at Buena Vista, February 23, 1847.

Santa Anna expected to destroy Taylor's army at Buena Vista, for he knew that General Winfield Scott had arrived at the mouth of the Rio Grande, had assumed the chief