Franklin Pierce, Part 1

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VOICE ONE:

This is Shirley Griffith.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English history
program, THE MAKING OF A NATION. Today, we continue the story of the
United States during the middle of the last century.

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VOICE ONE:

Franklin Pierce was elected president in eighteen-fifty-two. He
was forty-eight years old, one of America's youngest presidents.

Pierce was the compromise
candidate of the Democratic Party. He won the nomination on the
forty-ninth ballot at the party's convention. He then won a large
victory over the candidate of the Whig Party, General Winfield
Scott, in the general election. One of Pierce's friends, writer
Nathaniel Hawthorne, helped him with his campaign.

VOICE TWO:

Franklin Pierce was from the northeastern state of New Hampshire.
He was a lawyer and former state lawmaker. He also had served in the
United States Senate and House of Representatives. He became an
officer in the army during America's war with Mexico in the late
eighteen-forties.

Pierce had been a public official for more than twenty years when
he became president. Yet he was not a strong leader. He also faced a
difficult situation in his personal life.

VOICE ONE:

Two of his children had died when they were babies. A third child
was killed in a train accident shortly before Pierce was
inaugurated.

In addition, his wife Jane did not like the city of Washington.
She did not support her husband's campaign for president. Years
earlier, she had urged him to resign from the Senate and return to
New Hampshire. She did not want to go back to Washington, even to be
first lady.

When her husband was elected, she agreed to live there. But she
rarely saw anyone. One of her close friends took her place at public
events.

VOICE TWO:

Franklin Pierce was a young man. And his inauguration speech was
about a young America. He promised strong support for expanding the
territory of the United States. He also promised a strong foreign
policy.

In his foreign policy, President Pierce successfully negotiated
with Britain to gain American fishing rights along the coast of
Canada. However, he was unsuccessful in an attempt to buy Cuba from
Spain.

VOICE ONE:

One of the most important developments in foreign policy during
Pierce's administration actually began earlier. Former President
Millard Fillmore had sent Navy commodore Matthew Perry to Asia.
Perry finally sailed into Tokyo Bay in eighteen-fifty-three. His
arrival led to the establishment of diplomatic and trade relations
between the United States and Japan.

VOICE TWO:

National issues presented President Pierce with more difficult
decisions. The Compromise of eighteen-fifty had settled the dispute
over slavery in the western territories. But it did not end slavery.
There was still a chance that the north and south would go to war
over the issue.

Another question linked slavery and the western territories.
Where should the United States build its new railroads.

VOICE ONE:

As America grew and white settlers moved west, many felt a great
need for good transportation. They wanted railroads that reached
across the continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.
Engineers decided that four new rail lines would be possible.

One could cross the northern part of the country, connecting the
cities of Saint Paul and Seattle. Another could cross the middle,
connecting Saint Louis and San Francisco. A third could connect
Memphis and San Francisco. And a fourth could be far to the south,
connecting New Orleans and San Diego.

VOICE TWO:

Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois proposed that
three lines be built. He said the government could give land to the
railroad companies. The companies could then sell the land to get
the money they needed to build the lines.

A Senate committee discussed the situation. It decided that
building three railroads at the same time would be too difficult. It
proposed that only one be built. But which one.

VOICE ONE:

Many congressmen believed that a southern line would be best.
There would be little snow in winter. And the railroad would cross
lands already organized as states or official territories. A
northern or central line would face severe winter weather. And it
would have to cross a wild area called Nebraska. Nebraska was
neither a state nor a territory.

In trying to settle the question of railroads, the issue of
slavery rose once again.

VOICE TWO:

Nebraska lay north of the Missouri compromise line, which had
been established in eighteen-twenty. Slavery was not permitted
there.

The state of Missouri lay next to Nebraska. Missouri was a slave
state. Slave-holders in Missouri did not want the Nebraska area to
become a free territory. They were afraid their slaves would flee to
it. They felt threatened by the free states and free territories all
around them.

VOICE ONE:

For years, Congressmen from Missouri had defeated all attempts to
make Nebraska an official territory. When Congress met in
eighteen-fifty-three, it considered a new bill on Nebraska. Instead
of creating one large territory, the bill would create two. The
northern part would be called the Nebraska territory. The southern
part would be called the Kansas territory. The proposal to split
them was called the Kansas-Nebraska bill.

The bill did not clearly say if slavery would be legal, or
illegal, in the two new territories.

VOICE TWO:

The purpose of the Kansas-Nebraska bill reportedly was to settle
differences among opposing railroad interests in the area. Yet many
Americans believed the real purpose was to permit the spread of
slavery.

A group of anti-slavery Senators denounced the bill. They said it
was part of a southern plan to spread slavery wherever possible.
They also said it was being used by Senator Stephen Douglas for
political purposes. They said he was trying to gain southern support
for himself in the next presidential election. When the Senate began
debate on the Kansas-Nebraska bill, Stephen Douglas was the first to
defend it.

VOICE ONE:

Douglas said the bill would give people in the Kansas and
Nebraska territories the right to decide if slavery would be
permitted. He said the same right had been given to people in New
Mexico and Utah by the compromise of eighteen-fifty. And he said
that same right was meant for the people of all future territories.

In the past, he noted, the national government had tried to
divide free states from slave states by a line across a map. He said
a geographical line was not the answer. He said the people of a
state or territory had the right to decide for themselves.

Douglas argued that the compromise of eighteen-fifty took the
place of the earlier Missouri compromise of eighteen-twenty. The new
Kansas-Nebraska bill, he said, simply recognized the fact that the
Missouri compromise was dead.

VOICE TWO:

Opponents of the Kansas-Nebraska bill quickly rejected the
Senator's argument. They said Douglas was not honest in his
statements about the eighteen-fifty compromise. True, they said, the
compromise gave the people of Utah and New Mexico the right to
decide about slavery. But they said it did not give that right to
the people of all future territories.

VOICE ONE:

Opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska bill was extremely strong in
the northern United States. In city after city, big public meetings
were held. Businessmen organized many of the meetings. They were
angry at Senator Douglas because he had re-opened the dispute about
slavery. They feared that the dispute would hurt the economy.

Northern churchmen also united against the Kansas-Nebraska bill.
Thousands signed protests and sent them to Congress. Senator Douglas
criticized the churchmen. He said they should stay out of politics.

In the southern United States, the Kansas-Nebraska bill caused
little excitement. Most southerners were not greatly interested in
it. They believed it might help the cause of slavery. But they also
believed it might lead to trouble.

VOICE TWO:

Senate debate on the bill continued for more than a month.
Senator Stephen Douglas was sure it would be approved. We will
continue the story of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, and the
administration of President Franklin Pierce, next time.

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VOICE ONE:

Today's program of THE MAKING OF A NATION was written by
Christine Johnson. This is Shirley Griffith.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next time for another
report about the history of the United States.

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