

THi: STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



bridge Gerry was cho r->iU-nt. At the 



presidential election of 1816 James Monroe of 

 Virginia, and Daniel D. Tompkins of Ne\ 

 Democrats. :<lrnt and vice- 



president, respectively. Monroe's administra- 

 tion began un-ler very favorable circuinM:inc->. 

 Party distinctions had so nearly disappeared, 

 that Democrats and Federalists combine! to 

 support the government. He was reflected in 

 1820 by all the electoral votes except one. 

 Daniel D. Tompkins was red.-rtr.l vice-president. 

 The main event of Monroe's administration was 

 the Missouri controversy, by which, for the first 

 he count ry was disastrously divided upon 

 the slavery question. In the session of 

 1818-19 a bill was introduced in Congress au- 

 thorizing the Territory of Missouri to form a 

 constitution, whereupon James Tallmadge of New 

 York moved in tin* House of Representatives to 

 insert a clause prohibiting any further introduc- 

 tion of slaves, and granting freedom to the chil- 

 dren of those already in the Territory on their 

 attaining the age of 25. This motion was car- 

 ried, but the Senate refused to concur. In the 

 session of 1819-20 the debate was long and acri- 

 monious. The Senate sent to the House the 

 Missouri bill with the prohibition of slavery in 

 that State struck out, but with the proviso that 

 it should not thereafter be tolerated north of 

 lat it tide 36 30 7 . This compromise was at length 

 agreed to. The other great event of Mr. Mon- 

 roe's administration was the recognition (1822) 

 of the Spanish American republics, which had 

 declared and maintained their independence for 

 several years. In 1823 the president in his an- 

 nual message put forth a declaration, famous as 

 the "Monroe Doctrine," in which it was an- 

 nounced that any attempt on the part of Euro- 

 pean governments to extend their system to any 

 portion of this hemisphere would be considered 

 dangerous to the peace and safety of the United 

 States. In 1819, Florida had been ceded by 

 Spain. In the presidential election of 1824 none 

 of the four candidates (Andrew Jackson, John 

 Quincy Adams, William H. Crawford, and Henry 

 Clay) nad a majority of the electoral votes, and 

 Adams was elected by the House of Representa- 

 tives. John C. Calhoun had been elected vice- 

 president by the electoral colleges. Adam's ad- 

 ration was remarkable for order, method, 

 and economy, but party spirit was higher than 

 it had been for many years. At the election of 

 1828 General Jackson was chosen president, 

 \vhil- John C. Calhoun was reflected vice-presi- 

 dent. In his first annual message (December, 

 1829) the president took strong ground against 

 the renewal of the charter of the United States 

 bank, as not being authorized by the Constitu- 

 tion. Congress, in 1832, passed a bill to re- 

 charter it, but Jackson vetoed it; and the char- 

 ter expired by limitation in 1836. The com- 

 mercial part of the community generally took the 

 side of the bank, and the party formed in oppo- 

 sition to the president assumed the name of 

 Whigs, while his supporters adhered to the old 

 name of Democrats. In 1832 arose the so-called 

 nullification movement in South Carolina, grow- 

 ing out of the tariff acts of that year and of 1828. 

 A State convention held in November declared 

 these acts unconstitutional and, therefore, null 



and void, and proclaimed that any attempt by 

 the General ( iovi-nunent to collect duties in the 

 port of Charleston would be resisted by force of 

 arms, and would produce the secession of South 

 Carolina from the Union. Jackson had just 

 been reflected for a second term, while Martin 

 Van Buren was chosen vice-president. The 

 firmness of the president gave an effectual check 

 to the incipient rebellion, and the affair was 

 finally settled by a proposition brought forward 

 in Congress by Henry Clay, the leading cham- 

 pion of the protective system, for the modifica- 

 tion of the tariff by a gradual reduction of the 

 obnoxious duties. Other events of Jackson's 

 administration were the removal of the public 

 funds from the United States bank, the extinc- 

 tion of the national bank and the beginning, 

 toward the close of 1835, of a war with the 

 Seminole Indians in Florida. In the presidential 

 contest of 1836, Mr. Van Buren, who was sup- 

 ported by the Democrats, was elected. No can- 

 didate having been elected vice-president, Rich- 

 ard M. Johnson was chosen by trie Senate. The 

 new administration began under most untoward 

 circumstances. Within two months after the 

 inauguration the mercantile failures in the city 

 of New York alone amounted to more than 

 $100,000,000. The war with the Seminoles was 

 not ended till 1842. At the election in 1840, 

 Harrison and Tyler, the Whig candidates for 

 president and vice-president, were chosen. Gen- 

 eral Harrison was inaugurated March 4, 1841, 

 and died on April 4th. The presidential office 

 devolved on John Tyler, who soon developed a 

 policy in relation to a national bank much more 

 in accordance with the views of the Democratic 

 party than with those of the Whigs. A treaty 

 was concluded in 1842 with Great Britain by 

 Daniel Webster for the settlement of the north- 

 eastern boundary. The Texas question (see 

 Texas) became the prominent issue in the presi- 

 dential contest of 1844, the Democratic party 

 ! supporting and the Whigs opposing annexation. 

 The Democratic candidates, James K. Polk for 

 president and George M. Dallas for vice-presi- 

 dent, were elected over Henry Clay and Theo- 

 dore Frelinghuysen. Joint resolutions for an- 

 nexing Texas as one of the States of the Union 

 were signed by President Tyler March 1, 1845, 

 which led to a war with Mexico in 1846. Gen- 

 eral Zachary Taylor defeated the Mexicans at 

 Palo Alto May 8th, at Resaca de la Palma May 

 9th, at Monterey in September, and at Buena 

 Vista February 23, 1847. General Scott landed 

 near Vera Cruz on March 9th with about 12,000 

 men, immediately besieged that city, which sur- 

 rendered before the end of the month, and en- 

 tered the city of Mexico on September 14th, 

 | after a series of hard-fought and uniformly suc- 

 ! cessful battles. A treaty of peace was nego- 

 ' tiated at Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 2, 1848, 

 by which Mexico granted to the United States 

 i the line of the Rio Grande as a boundary, and 

 i ceded New Mexico and California. The Oregon 

 | dispute with Great Britain, which claimed the 

 whole region, while the United States claimed 

 as far north as latitude 54 40', was settled by 

 the treaty of 1846, which adopted the boundary 

 ! of the parallel of 49, with a modification giving 

 to Great Britain the whole of Vancouver Island. 



