2004-6-2
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VOICE ONE:
THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English.
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As we reported last week, Texas won its independence from Mexico
during the administration of President Andrew Jackson. It then
wanted to become part of the United States.
Jackson wanted to make Texas a state in the union. But more
important to him was the union itself. Jackson felt that to give
statehood to Texas would deepen the split between the northern and
southern states. Texas would be a slave state. For this reason,
Texas statehood was strongly opposed by the anti-slavery leaders in
the north.
Jackson told Texas minister William Wharton that there was a way
that statehood for Texas would bring the north and south together,
instead of splitting them apart.
VOICE TWO:
Jackson said Texas should claim
California. The fishing interests of the north and east, said
Jackson, wanted a port on the Pacific coast. Offer it to them, the
president said, and they will soon forget the spreading of slavery
through Texas.
Jackson and Wharton held this discussion just three weeks before
the end of the president's term. Wharton spent much time at the
White House.
He also worked with congressmen, urging the lawmakers to
recognize Texas. He was able to get Congress to include in a bill a
statement permitting the United States to send a minister to Texas.
Such a minister was to be sent whenever the president received
satisfactory evidence that Texas was an independent power. This bill
was approved four days before the end of Jackson's term.
VOICE ONE:
Wharton went back to the White House. Again and again he gave
Jackson arguments for recognizing Texas. On the afternoon of March
third, eighteen-thirty-seven, Jackson agreed to recognize the new
republic led by his old friend, Sam Houston. He sent to Congress his
nomination for minister to Texas. One of the last acts of that
Congress was to approve the nomination. The United States recognized
Texas as an independent republic. But nine years would pass before
Texas became a state.
The fourth of March, eighteen-thirty-seven, was a bright,
beautiful day. The sun warmed the thousands who watched the power of
government pass from one man to another.
Andrew Jackson left the White House with the man who would take
his place, Martin Van Buren. They sat next to each other as the
presidential carriage moved down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the
Capitol building. Cheers stopped in the throats of the thousands who
stood along the street. In silence, they removed their hats to show
how much they loved this old man who was stepping down.
"For once," wrote Senator Thomas Hart Benton, "the rising sun was
eclipsed by the setting sun."
VOICE TWO:
The big crowd on the east side of the Capitol grew quiet when
Jackson and Van Buren walked out onto the front steps of the
building. After Chief Justice Taney swore in President Van Buren,
the new president gave his inaugural speech. Then Andrew Jackson
started slowly down the steps. A mighty cheer burst from the crowd.
"It was a cry," wrote Senator Benton, "such as power never
commanded, nor man in power received. It was love, gratitude and
admiration. I felt a feeling that had never passed through me
before."
Why was this, men have asked? Why did the people love Jackson so?
Senator Daniel Webster gave this reason: "General Jackson is an
honest and upright man. He does what he thinks is right. And he does
it with all his might."
Another Senator put it this way: "He called himself 'the people's
friend'. And he gave proofs of his sincerity. General Jackson
understood the people of the United States better, perhaps, than any
president before him."
VOICE ONE:
Jackson was always willing to let the people judge his actions.
He was ready to risk his political life for what he believed in.
Jackson's opposition could not understand why the people did not
destroy him. They said he was lucky. "Jackson's luck" the opposition
called it.
Jackson seemed always to win whatever struggle he began. And the
men he fought against were not weak opponents. They were political
giants: Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, Nicholas Biddle. The old
general fought these men separately and, at times, all together.
VOICE TWO:
The day after Van Buren became
president, Jackson met with a few of his friends. Frank Blair, the
editor of Jackson's newspaper, was one of them. Senator Benton was
another. It was a warm, friendly meeting. They thought back over
Jackson's years in the White House and talked about what had been
done.
Jackson said he thought his best piece of work was getting rid of
the Bank of the United States. He said he had saved the people from
a monopoly of a few rich men. Someone asked about Texas. Jackson
said he was not worried about Texas. That problem would solve
itself, he said.
Did the general have any regrets about anything? "Only two," said
Jackson. "I regret I was unable to shoot Henry Clay or to hang John
C. Calhoun."
VOICE ONE:
The next morning, March sixth, Jackson left Washington to return
to his home in Tennessee. President Van Buren protested that Jackson
was not well enough to travel. The old man had been sick for the
last few months of his presidency. He suffered from tuberculosis,
and at times lost great amounts of blood from his lungs. When
Jackson refused to listen to Van Buren's protests, the president
sent the army's top doctor, Surgeon General Thomas Lawson, to travel
with Jackson.
General Jackson was to leave the capital by train. Thousands of
people lined the streets to the train station, waiting for a last
look at their president. Jackson stood in the open air on the rear
platform of the train. His hat was off, and the wind blew through
his long white hair.
Not a sound came from the people who crowded around the back of
the train. A bell rang. There was a hiss of steam. And the train
began to move. General Jackson bowed. The crowd stood still. The
train moved around a curve and could no longer be seen. The crowd
began to break up. One man who was there said it was as if a bright
star had gone out of the sky.
VOICE TWO:
Jackson lived for eight more years. He died as he had lived…with
dignity and honor.
A few hours after his death, a tall man and a small child arrived
at the Jackson home. They had traveled a long way -- all the way
from Texas. The big man was Sam Houston, the president of Texas. He
had heard that his friend was dying.
Houston was too late to say goodbye. He stood before Jackson's
body, tears in his eyes. Then Houston dropped to his knees and
buried his face on the chest of his friend and chief. He pulled the
small boy close to him. "My son," he said, "try to remember that you
have looked on the face of Andrew Jackson."
VOICE ONE:
Andrew Jackson stepped down from the presidency in March,
eighteen-thirty-seven. His presidential powers were passed to his
most trusted political assistant, Martin Van Buren of New York.
Van Buren was elected president after campaign promises to
continue the policies of Jackson. He was opposed by several
candidates, all of the new Whig Party. Van Buren won easily with the
help of Andrew Jackson.
Years before, Van Buren had done much himself to elect Jackson to
the White House. After the election of eighteen-twenty-four had
divided the opponents of John Quincy Adams, Van Buren began to put
together a political alliance for the future.
We will continue our story on Van Buren next week.
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VOICE TWO:
You have been listening to the Special English program, THE
MAKING OF A NATION. Your narrators were Gwen Outen and Doug Johnson.
Our program was written by Frank Beardsley. THE MAKING OF A NATION
can be heard Thursdays.
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