By the time of the 1852 elections, American politics was a mess. ( Log Out /  Pierce was able to get this amendment to the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo through the Senate at a time when sectional tensions were extraordinarily high. It took until the 49th ballot before the supporters of Cass and Buchanan gave up and gave Pierce the nomination. It would get worse before it got better. And his father was famous. Marcy, along with Buchanan, Soule, and Minister to France John Mason, met in Ostend, Belgium to discuss acquiring Cuba. Once Northerners heard of it, anti-slavery politicians saw it as another land grab for slaveholders. Although there were nominally two parties: the Democrats and Whigs, there were almost a dozen different factions from each party that coalesced around various themes: slavery, expansion, nationalism, internal improvements, and the always popular organized beatings of immigrant Catholics. ( Log Out /  In reality, they are both populated by kooks. Pierce and Marcy had to deal with filibusters (using the original meaning of the word, not the delaying tactic in the Senate) in Nicaragua and Cuba. It also made speaking out against slavery illegal in the state. The rest of the Cabinet was loyal. It was tenaciously opposed by northerners such as Ohio Senator Salmon P. Chase and Massachusetts’ Charles Sumner, who rallied public sentiment in the North against the bill. This purchase really was a commercial opportunity and it was the last piece of territory to which the southern a transcontinental railway would be built. King was an odd choice as he was suffering from tuberculosis. He treated Franklin Pierce with objectivity and revealed a man who was not ready, and arguably not capable, of being president of the United States of America. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Readers’ Top Histories and Biographies of the Last 5 Years. Franklin Pierce was nominated for the Presidency in 1852. They were depression, what we would now call PTSD and alcoholism. He twice tried to ride into battle without sufficient treatment and passed out from the pain. Pierce received formal education at an early age and later took admission in the Bowdoin College, Maine. What he was not seeing was the lawlessness on the ground, particularly in Kansas, which garnered the nickname of Bleeding Kansas. His wife fainted on hearing the news. The years before 1860 were a period of increasing cold war in the United States. Pierce was flummoxed on most days, however. He gave good speeches. This was the caning of Charles Sumner by Preston Brooks, a South Carolina congressman on the floor of the Senate, which led to the phrase a Bleeding Sumner. And he drank more to ease the pain. He was eventually elected as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and later also as a U.S. At the Democratic Convention in Baltimore, there was a deadlock. Or at least he was after some marketing. So, they decided to make Pierce their candidate. His wife was plagued with illness and the same tragedies. Pierce was barely considered for renomination in 1856. After his inauguration, Pierce faced numerous crises, but the most pressing one was solving the problem of the expansion of slavery in the territories. Douglas had been their standard bearer, but Douglas had ticked off too many people. Also, Pierce was quite fond of the South and Southerners and would not fall in league with abolitionist forces. Keeping matters calm was paramount. (Washington Nationals baseball was still years away.) But, other than those flaws, Franklin Pierce did an admirable job. The result was that slavery was pushed far into the background by the two parties. Why him? This fragmentation is the main theme of this book and Gara states it very well. Free Soil party candidate John Hale, a rival of Pierce in New Hampshire, took the rest. This law, part of the Compromise of 1850, required anyone anywhere in the United States to return a slave to its owner with barely any involvement in the legal process. He was seriously wounded during the war at the Battle of Contreras. When the Mexican War started, Pierce enlisted as a private, but was quickly made a general. Politicians of the time didn’t want to confront problems. Franklin Pierce, byname Young Hickory, (born November 23, 1804, Hillsboro, New Hampshire, U.S.—died October 8, 1869, Concord, New Hampshire), 14th president of the United States (1853–57). I won't argue with that, especially since I knew nothing about the man before I read this book. Even though nobody really knew what he did. Pierce was skeptical of the bill, knowing it would result in bitter opposition from the North. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published Railroads were changing transportation. A proposed state constitution was sent to Washington. And then there were a bunch that you hadn’t heard of. Pierce was sent back home to New Hampshire, but he was now an officially certified war hero. Pierce died on October 8, 1869 of cirrhosis of the liver. A politician of limited ability, Pierce was behind one of the most crucial pieces of legislation in American history. You may wonder if Pierce was actively seeking the nomination. Early Life Franklin Pierce was born to a family with a background in politics. However, his Secretary of War was Jefferson Davis (a personal friend), ended up acting much like the vainglorious racist he would later become as President of the Confederacy. by University Press of Kansas. Franklin Pierce was born on November 23, 1804 in Hillsboro, New Hampshire. I learned a lot about North/South relations and the development of the Republican party so it was still interesting. Pierce and his administration used threats and promises to keep most Democrats on board in favor of the bill.

Wrekonize Smif-n-wessun, Ecq Shopping Centre, Youtube American Guerrilla In The Philippines, Unique Restaurants Mesa, Az, Alexander Mattison Fantasy Outlook, Tetrapturus Albidus, Uss Stark, Eric Faulkner Parents, Swinburne University Jobs, Rammstein Du Hast,