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VOA慢速英语2014 Polk Succeeded by 'Old Zach' in 1848 Election

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Polk Succeeded by 'Old Zach' in 1848 Election

From VOA Learning English, welcome to The Making of a Nation, our weekly program of American history for people learning American English.  I’m Steve Ember, in Washington.

The Mexican-American war officially ended in 1848.  Mexico agreed to give California and New Mexico to the United States.  And, Mexico would recognize the Rio Grande River as the southern border of Texas.

President James K. PolkPresident James K. Polk

 Thus, President James K. Polk had succeeded in expanding the United States.  He had added Oregon, California, Texas, and New Mexico to the country.  Now, the country faced the problem of what to do with slavery in the new territories.

“As soon as it became clear in the American consciousness  that Polk’s aim in the Mexican War was to gain Southwestern territory—California and what’s now the American Southwest—then the slavery question becomes very, very salient in a powerful way that it had been kept under wraps for 20, 25 years.”

Robert Merry is an historian and the author of a book about James K. Polk.

“So we went through 10 years of kind of political hell in America as we struggled through that issue, which could only be settled through force of arms.”

Southerners argued that they had the right to bring slaves into California and New Mexico.  Northerners opposed any further spread of slavery.  But the real question was a legal one.  Did Congress have the power to control or ban slavery in the territories?

Until Texas became a state, almost all national leaders seemed to accept the idea that Congress did have this power.  For 50 years, Congress had passed resolutions and laws controlling slavery in U.S. territories.  But Southern slave owners believed the power to control slavery remained with the states.  There seemed to be no answer to the problem.

While Congress debated the issue, the country moved quickly into the presidential campaign of 1848. President Polk was old, tired and in poor health.  He said he would keep his promise to serve only one term.  Polk felt that he had done his duty.  During the first days of his administration, he listed the goals of his presidency1.

First, he wanted to reduce the tax on imports.  Second, he wished to establish an independent treasury2, which the Whigs, had voted out.  Third, he hoped to settle the Oregon border dispute with Britain.  And fourth, he wanted to make California part of 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 1846, Polk was able to establish the independent Treasury again, where the government could keep its own funds.  No longer would government money 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, the president believed he had served his country well.

Polk, however, had not served his party well.  He was not a good politician.  He failed to unite competing groups within 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 Martin Van Buren -- New York Democrats4 opposed to slavery.  They were called "Barnburners."  They got this name from their opponents, who claimed they were willing to burn down the entire barn to remove 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 Polk administration and those opposed to it.

Democratic delegates met in Baltimore in May of 1848 to choose their candidate for president.  On the fourth vote, the delegates chose Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan as the party's presidential candidate.  Cass was 66 years old.  He was considered a moderate Democrat3.  He was a northerner who did not oppose slavery.

On the question of slavery in the new territories, Cass believed that the people living in those areas should make the decision.  The Barnburner Democrats of New York refused to accept Cass as their candidate.  They walked out of the Baltimore convention.

Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky expected to be the presidential candidate of the Whig Party.  The Whigs had nominated Clay as their candidate in three earlier elections.  But Clay lost all three times.  In 1848, older members of the party still supported him.  But young Whigs felt  a new candidate was needed.

Portrait of General Zachary Taylor. Taylor led American troops against Mexican forces.Portrait of General Zachary Taylor. Taylor led American troops against Mexican forces.

Some party leaders remembered how William Henry Harrison had won the presidency for the Whigs in 1840 by campaigning as a military hero.  The country now had a new military hero: "Old Zach," General Zachary Taylor.  He and his men never lost a battle in the Mexican War.  Several times, General Taylor defeated Mexican forces much larger than his.

Taylor was 63 years old.  He had almost no formal education.  He had spent almost 40 years in the West as an Indian fighter and commander of small army bases.

Some politicians did not believe Taylor had the ability to be president.  But his supporters put great energy into their campaign.  They tried to sell the idea that the general was the only man who could defeat the candidate of the Democratic Party.  Finally, Taylor won the Whig Party's nomination5.

Many Americans did not like either presidential candidate because of the candidates' policies on slavery. Lewis Cass saw nothing wrong with slavery if that was what the people wanted.  And Zachary Taylor was a slave owner.

So, a group of men in Ohio decided6 to form a new political party.  They called it the Free Soil Party, because they believed in free land for free settlers. They wanted no further spread of slavery.

The Free Soil leaders proposed a convention of all who supported their ideas.  Ten thousand people went to the convention in Buffalo7, New York.

For two days, the delegates debated the slavery issue and discussed their choice of a candidate for president.  They also worked on a platform -- a statement of their party's purpose.

The platform declared that slavery was an institution of the states, not the nation.  It said Congress had no right to help spread slavery by permitting it in the new western territories.  The platform declared that the issue should be faced with firmness.  No more slave states.  No more slave territory.  No more compromises with slavery, anywhere.

Convention delegates then voted on candidates.  They chose former President Martin Van Buren as the party’s candidate.

The people of the nation voted on November 7, 1848.  It was the first time a presidential election was held on the same day in all parts of the country.  Zachary Taylor won both the popular and electoral votes. He became the 12th president of the United States.

Congress met a few weeks after the election, long before Taylor took office.  It faced serious problems.  Territorial8 governments were needed for the areas won in the war against Mexico.

California, especially, needed help.  Gold had been discovered in California.  Thousands of people were moving there.  A government was needed to protect the lives and property of the new population.

Then there was the question of laws forcing northern states to return escaped slaves to their owners.  The laws were not always obeyed.  Southerners wanted a new law that would be easier to enforce.

Congress found it difficult to act on these problems.  The House of Representatives was controlled by members of the Free Soil Party, which opposed slavery.  The Senate was controlled by southerners, who supported slavery.  The two sides found it almost impossible to agree on anything.

Early in January, 1849, a congressman9 proposed a bill to first limit, and then end, slavery in the District of Columbia.  Opposition10 to the bill was strong.  It was amended11.  The new bill would simply close all places in the District of Columbia where slaves were bought and sold.

Southern congressmen disliked the bill, even as amended.  They organized a committee representing every one of the southern states.  Senator John C. Calhoun said the committee should write a declaration explaining the position of the South.  The committee agreed, and Calhoun wrote most of the declaration himself.

The southern declaration accused the North of many aggressions.  The South, it said, faced many dangers.  Soon there would be enough free states to control both the House and the Senate.  And then the Constitution would be changed and all slaves would be freed.

And this, said the southern declaration, would lead to bitter hostility12 and war between North and South.  The declaration called on the people of the South to unite and be firm in their opposition to the North.

With this new firmness, southern lawmakers fought to make slavery legal in the new territories.  They effectively blocked proposals for territorial governments in California and New Mexico.

Congress ended its term on March 4, 1849, without any progress.  Zachary Taylor was sworn-in as president that same day.

Americans hoped that the new president would be able to bring the North and South together again.  But Taylor really had no policy.  He could not support a bill to keep slavery out of the territories.  That might start a quick revolt among the southern states.  He could not support a bill to let slavery spread into the territories.  That would make the North rise in anger.

Taylor tried to be neutral.  He hoped the problem of slavery would solve itself.  But the problem would not solve itself.  The growing division between North and South will be our story next week.


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1 presidency J1HzD     
n.总统(校长,总经理)的职位(任期)
参考例句:
  • Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
  • Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。
2 treasury 7GeyP     
n.宝库;国库,金库;文库
参考例句:
  • The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
  • This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。
3 democrat Xmkzf     
n.民主主义者,民主人士;民主党党员
参考例句:
  • The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
  • About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后,他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。
4 democrats 655beefefdcaf76097d489a3ff245f76     
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
  • The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 nomination BHMxw     
n.提名,任命,提名权
参考例句:
  • John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
  • Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。
6 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
7 buffalo 1Sby4     
n.(北美)野牛;(亚洲)水牛
参考例句:
  • Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
  • The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。
8 territorial LImz4     
adj.领土的,领地的
参考例句:
  • The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
  • They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。
9 Congressman TvMzt7     
n.(美)国会议员
参考例句:
  • He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
  • The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。
10 opposition eIUxU     
n.反对,敌对
参考例句:
  • The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
  • The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。
11 Amended b2abcd9d0c12afefe22fd275996593e0     
adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • He asked to see the amended version. 他要求看修订本。
  • He amended his speech by making some additions and deletions. 他对讲稿作了些增删修改。
12 hostility hdyzQ     
n.敌对,敌意;抵制[pl.]交战,战争
参考例句:
  • There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
  • His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

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