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THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English.
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As we reported in our last program of THE MAKING OF A NATION, thenational elections of eighteen-hundred-forty put a new man in theWhite House: General William Henry Harrison. He became the ninthpresident of the United States. He was a member of the Whig Party.The defeat of President Martin Van Buren was expected. Still, it wasa sharp loss for the Democratic Party. President Harrison died soonafter becoming president. And his vice president, John Tyler, movedinto the White House.
The Whig Party leaders, especiallySenator Henry Clay of Kentucky, tried to control the new president.But Tyler soon showed his independence. Clay proposed detailedlegislative programs for the new Whig administration. Among them:the establishment of a national bank. This was high on SenatorClay's list of proposals. Tyler did not approve these plans asproposed by Clay. Tyler wanted peace and party unity. But he alsowanted to show that he -- not Clay -- was president. Tyler vetoedtwo bills calling for the creation of a national bank.
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Clay's supporters in the cabinet did their best to get Tyler tosign the bank bills. When the president refused to do so, Whig Partyleaders urged the cabinet to resign. This would show that thepresident, alone, was responsible for the veto of the bills. Allcabinet members, but one -- Daniel Webster -- resigned. Secretary ofState Webster was with the president when one of the letters ofresignation arrived.
"What am I to do, Mr. President?" asked Webster. "You must decidethat for yourself," Tyler said. "If you leave it to me, Mr.President, I will stay where I am." President Tyler stood up. "Giveme your hand on that," he said, "and I will say to you that HenryClay is a doomed man from this hour. " Tyler named a new cabinet.And there was not one Clay supporter in it.
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The president's veto of the second bank bill brought strongpublic protests from those who wanted a national bank. A large groupof Whig congressmen met and voted to expel Tyler from the party.During the struggle over the bank bills, the Whigs did not forgetthe other parts of Senator Clay's legislative program. Clayespecially wanted approval of a bill to give the different statesmoney from the sale of public land. Tyler liked this idea himself.Many of the states owed large amounts of money. The distributionbill, as it was called, would help them get out of debt.
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The president was willing to support the bill. But he saw onedanger in it. If all the money from land sales was given to thestates, the federal government might not have enough money. Tylerfeared that Congress then would raise import taxes to get more moneyfor the federal government. As a Southerner, the president opposedtaxes on imports. He finally agreed to accept the distribution bill,but on one condition. The distribution of money to the states wouldbe suspended if import taxes rose higher than twenty percent. Tylersigned the bill, and it became law.
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The next year, the government found itself short of money. It wasspending more than it had. Congress decided that import taxes shouldbe raised, some even higher than twenty percent. The bill was passedby close votes in the House and Senate.
When it got to the White House, President Tyler vetoed it. Hesaid it was wrong to raise the tax so high and, at the same time,continue to give the states the money from land sales. He said thefederal government itself needed the land-sale money. The Whigs wereangry.
Still, they did not have enough votes to pass the bill over thepresident's veto. Then they approved a new bill. This one raisedimport taxes, but said nothing about distribution of federal moneyto the states. And president Tyler signed it.
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While the Whigs made bitter speeches about the failure of theparty's legislative program, Tyler worked to improve relations withBritain. The United States and Britain disputed the border thatseparated Canada from the northeastern United States. Both Canadaand the state of Maine claimed t he disputed area. Britain was alsoangry because Americans had helped Canadian rebels.
Canadian soldiers had crossed the Niagara River and burned a boatthat was used to carry supplies to the rebels. Secretary of StateDaniel Webster wanted peace with Britain. And there was a newgovernment in Britain. Its foreign minister, Lord Aberdeen, alsowanted peace.
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Lord Aberdeen sent a special representative, Lord Ashburton,-tothe United States. Lord Ashburton had an American wife. And he was afriend of Daniel Webster. He arrived in Washington in the spring ofeighteen-hundred-forty-two with the power to settle all disputeswith the United States.
Lord Ashburton said Britain regretted that it had not made someexplanation or apology for the sinking of an American boat in theniagara river. The two men discussed the border dispute betweenCanada and Maine.
Webster proposed a compromise border line. Lord Ashburtonaccepted the compromise. The agreement gave almost eighteen-thousandsquare kilometers of the disputed area to Maine. Canada receivedmore than twelve-thousand square kilometers.
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The Senate approved the Webster-Ashburton agreement. AndAmerican-British relations showed improvement. President Tyler thenturned to another problem: Texas. Texas asked to become a stateduring President Van Buren's administration. But nothing was doneabout the request.
Tyler was interested in Texas and wanted to make it part of theUnion. Secretary Webster was cool to the idea of Texas statehood.
As a Northerner, he did not want another slave state in theUnion. Webster and his supporters were Tyler's only real strength inthe Whig Party outside of Virginia. The president, therefore, didnot push the issue of Texas.
After Senate approval of his treaty with Lord Ashburton, Websterdecided that he could be of no more real use to the administration.He resigned as secretary of state. Tyler named one of his Virginiasupporters, Abel Upshur, to the job in the summer ofeighteen-hundred-forty-three.
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Upshur was a firm believer in slavery. He felt slaves werenecessary in the agricultural economy of the south. Upshur wasworried about reports that Britain was interested in ending slaveryin Texas. These reports said Britain had promised to defend Texasindependence and to give economic aid, if the slaves were freed.Upshur and other southerners feared what might happen if this weredone. Slaves from nearby southern states would try to escape tofreedom in Texas. And the abolitionists might use Texas as a basefor propaganda against the south.
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There was another reason for President Tyler's interest in Texas.He believed it possible to make political use of the question ofTexas statehood. It could help him build a new political party, aparty that might elect him president for another four years. Fourmonths after becoming secretary of state, Upshur offered a statehoodtreaty to Texas.
At first, Texas President Sam Houston refused the offer. Hefinally agreed to negotiate, but said the United States must accepttwo conditions. It must agree to protect Texas if Mexico attackedit. And it must promise that the United States Senate would approvethe treaty.
Upshur told the Texas representative in Washington that Texaswould be given military protection just as soon as the treaty wassigned. And he said the necessary two-thirds of the senators wouldapprove the statehood treaty. Houston was satisfied. And hisrepresentative began secret negotiations with Upshur.
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A few weeks later, before the talks could be completed, Upshurjoined the president and congressional leaders for a trip down thePotomac River. They sailed on a new American warship that carriedtwo large cannons. The new guns were to be fired for the president.Upshur was standing near one of the cannons during the firing. Heand two other men were killed when the gun exploded. The presidentwas not injured. But nineteen others were hurt.
President Tyler named John C. Calhoun -- a Democrat -- as his newsecretary of state. He did so for two reasons: Calhoun believed thatTexas should be part of the United States. And Tyler -- a Whig --hoped that Calhoun might be able to get him nominated as thepresidential candidate of the Democratic Party.
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VOICE TWO:
You have been listening to the Special English program, THEMAKING OF A NATION. Your narrators were Lew Roland and Bud Steele.Our program was written by Frank Beardsley. THE MAKING OF A NATIONcan be heard thursdays.