2004-8-11
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VOICE ONE:
THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English.
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A great constitutional debate split the United States in
eighteen-forty-eight. The dispute arose over slavery in the new
territories. The question was this: did Congress have the power to
control or prohibit slavery in the territories. Southerners argued
that they had the right to take slaves into the new territories of
New Mexico and California. Northerners opposed any further spread of
slavery.
There seemed to be no answer to the problem. Everyone agreed that
governments had to be organized in the territories. But northern and
southern leaders could not settle their dispute over slavery.
VOICE TWO:
Senator John Clayton of Delaware proposed to the Senate that it
name a special committee on the question of slavery in the new
territories. Both parties -- the Whigs and the Democrats -- had the
same number of senators on the committee. Senator Clayton was its
chairman.
South and north were equally represented. After six days,
Clayton's committee agreed on a compromise bill. It proposed that
Oregon be organized as free territory. Slavery there would be
illegal. And on California and New Mexico, the bill proposed this:
they could be organized as territories. But their territorial
legislatures would not have the power to act on the issue of
slavery. All questions on slavery in these two territories must be
decided by the United States Supreme Court.
VOICE ONE:
Not everyone believed this plan was a good one. Some northern
senators believed that Chief Justice Taney would decide for slavery.
Southern senators were just as sure that Taney would decide against
slavery.
Many Whigs in the House of Representatives opposed the plan,
because they feared that the political dispute over slavery would
destroy the Supreme Court. The Senate approved the compromise bill.
But the House rejected it. After long debate, Congress finally
approved territorial government for Oregon. And it voted that Oregon
should be free territory, with slavery illegal.
The vote on the Oregon bill was very close. It passed in the
Senate only because two men from slave states voted for it. They
were Senator Thomas Benton of Missouri and Senator Sam Houston of
Texas. Senator John C. Calhoun said it was a bad defeat for the
south. But what was worse was the fact that it was caused by the
votes of two southern senators.
Soon after, at the end of August, Congress ended its session. And
the nation's leaders prepared for the national election of
eighteen-forty-eight.
VOICE TWO:
The country moved quickly into the
presidential campaign. President Polk was old, tired, and in poor
health. He had decided not to try for a second term. Polk felt he
had done his duty. During the first days of his administration, he
listed the things he planned to do as president.
First, he wanted to reduce the tax on imports. Second, he wished
to establish the independent treasury, which the Whigs had voted
out. Third, he hoped to settle the Oregon border dispute with
Britain. And fourth, he wanted to get California for the United
States.
Less than four years later, he had succeeded with each item on
his list. The United States and Britain agreed on a compromise in
the Oregon dispute. In eighteen-forty-six, he was able to establish
the independent treasury again, where the government could keep its
own funds. No longer would government funds be kept in private
banks. That same year, Polk was able to get Congress to approve a
bill that greatly reduced the taxes on imports. And the peace treaty
with Mexico gave the United States not only California, but also New
Mexico. So, Polk believed he had served his country well.
VOICE ONE:
Polk, however, had not served his party well. He was not a good
politician. He failed to unite the disputing groups of the
Democratic Party. What was worse, he let them move even farther
apart.
There seemed to be no strong Democratic candidate who could unite
the party. At one extreme were the supporters of former President
Van Buren--New York Democrats opposed to slavery. They were called
'Barnburners'. They got this name from their political opponents,
who charged that they were willing to burn down the barn to get rid
of pro-slavery rats.
At the party's other extreme were the Democrats of the south, led
by John C. Calhoun of South Carolina. In every state, the Democrats
were divided between those who supported the administration and
those opposed to it.
VOICE TWO:
The Democrats met in Baltimore in May, eighteen-forty-eight, to
choose their presidential candidate. Several men were proposed as
possibilities: Polk's Treasury Secretary, Robert Walker of
Mississippi; John Dix of New York; and Senator Lewis Cass of
Michigan.
On the fourth vote, the convention chose Cass as the party's
presidential candidate. Cass was sixty-six years old. He was a
middle-of-the-road Democrat. He was a northerner who did not oppose
slavery.
On the question of slavery in the new territories, Cass believed
that the people of the territory should make the decision. The
'Barnburner' Democrats of New York refused to accept Cass as their
candidate. They walked out of the Baltimore convention.
VOICE ONE:
Senator Henry Clay -- three times
the Whig Party choice for president -- expected to be its candidate
again. The old members of the party still supported Clay. But young
Whigs felt that a new candidate was needed.
Some Whig leaders remembered how William Henry Harrison had won
the presidency for the party by campaigning as a military hero. The
country had a new military hero now. "Old Zach" -- General Zachary
Taylor. General Taylor and his men never lost a battle in the
Mexican War. Several times, he defeated Mexican forces much larger
than his. After the General's first victory, New York
politicalleader Thurlow Weed happened to meet Taylor's brother on a
Hudson River steamboat. That meeting had a most important effect on
future events.
VOICE TWO:
Weed asked Joseph Taylor if his brother was a political man.
Joseph answered that "Old Zach" was not. He said his brother
belonged to no party, that often he did not even vote. He said Zach
supported Henry Clay and did not like Andrew Jackson.
Joseph said his brother felt strongly that American products
should be protected against competition from foreign imports. He
felt so strongly about it, Joseph said, that he refused to wear any
imported clothing. Weed made a quick decision. "Your brother," he
said, "will be our next president."
"That is preposterous. My brother knows nothing about government
or civil affairs. When I tell you," said Joseph Taylor, "that he is
not as fit to be president as I am, you will see how foolish this
idea is."
VOICE ONE:
Weed, however, did not think his proposal was foolish. He began
to build support for General Taylor among Whig politicians. When Old
Zach first heard of efforts to make him president, he agreed with
his brother. The idea was foolish.
"I would not accept such high office," he said, "even if it were
offered."
This statement he made in June, eighteen-forty-six. A month
later, he was saying he was not a candidate for president...and
never would be. He said he felt it was wrong to make a military man
president. But, a few months later, Taylor changed his mind. He told
his son-in-law in December: "I will not say I would not serve if the
good people were to be so unwise as to elect me."
VOICE TWO:
By July of eighteen-forty-seven, Old Zach had made up his mind.
He told a friend: "I am satisfied that if the election were held
now, nothing could prevent me from becoming president." Senator Clay
did not think Taylor had the ability to be president. But Clay knew
well how the voters loved a military hero. Senator Clay was seventy
years old. He knew this would be his last chance to become
president. He worked very hard to get the support of Whig leaders.
The Whig party held its convention in Philadelphia in June,
eighteen-forty-eight. Four names were put before the convention:
General Taylor, Henry Clay, General Winfield Scott, and Daniel
Webster.
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VOICE ONE:
You have been listening to the Special English program, THE
MAKING OF A NATION. Your narrators were Jack Weitzel and Jack
Moyles. Our program was written by Frank Beardsley. THE MAKING OF A
NATION can be heard Thursdays.