INTRODUCTION
The Founding Fathers gave the nation a governmental outline. Thus, it was up to America’s first presidents to determine how the new democracy would actually work. Despite Washington’s explicit warnings, American politicians quickly split into two parties, primarily disagreeing over federal versus state powers. As the nation expanded westward and new states were added, tensions increased. East versus West, North versus South … eventually, the divisive issue of slavery took center stage. The precarious balance between free and slave states teetered dangerously toward war.
Furthering the divide, the Northern States transformed into commercial and industrial centers, while the South remained overwhelmingly rural. The Compromise of 1850 temporarily diffused the situation, but the 1860 election of President Abraham Lincoln pushed southern states to secede from the Union, leading to the greatest bloodbath in American history.
Did You Know?
The political struggle over rechartering the Second Bank of the United States – the Bank War – was also a fight against Federal power. As (10th) President Tyler said, “If Congress can incorporate a bank, it might emancipate a slave.”
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AUDIO COMPANIONS
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(7th) President Andrew Jackson, originator of Jacksonian Democracy that championed states’ rights over a strong Federal government, believed the Second Bank of the United States was an unconstitutional, government-run monopoly. Declaring, “the bank is trying to kill me, but I will kill it!” he vetoed its charter renewal. Jackson’s ruinous banking policy led to the 1837 panic, which plagued his successor, Martin Van Buren’s, (8th) presidency. (11th) President James K. Polk expanded the nation westward, acquiring California, New Mexico, and Texas through money and war. A victorious general and national hero, plantation owner and (12th) President Zachary Taylor disappointed Southern hopes with his refusal to actively defend slavery, leading to threats of secession. However, it was (16th) President Abraham Lincoln’s election that finally lit the match that set America alight.
Lincoln’s Inaugural Address warned the South: “In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war.” On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring slaves within the Confederacy “forever free.” In his second Inaugural Address, Lincoln sought to heal the nation: “With malice toward none; with charity for all, let us strive…to bind up the nation’s wounds.” However, magnanimous peace died with Lincoln on April 14, 1865 when actor John Wilkes Booth shot the Great Emancipator.
