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Private Notes
The election of 1824 saw the beginning of a new political era in America. It was the end of the Federalists and the Democratic Republicans, and the end of the era of good feelings. The presidency of John Quincy Adams ushered in more than thirty years of political animosity that would finally divide our nation.
Andrew Jackson was our nation's second military hero to become president. His rise to power ushered in the modern party system, ad the democratic political machine was created to ensure the election of Ol' Hickory. But the party system also created a culture of favoritism and patronage that affects our country even today.
Gone was the powerful personality of Andrew Jackson. Now we were faced with ineffectual leadership and unforeseen tragedy. Martin Van Buren would fire the furnace of sectional rivalry for more than 20 years. Tippecanoe and Tyler hardly fared much better.
In 1824, Mexico revolted against General Antonio López de Santa Anna. Ten years later, Texas had decided that independence from Mexico was the only sure road to liberty. The birth of the Lone Star Republic would have a dramatic impact on the United States, and the siege of the Alamo would become an American legend.
James K. Polk said what he meant and meant what he said, and because of him, the United States now spreads from sea to shining sea. Polk was a man of Manifest Destiny, for both himself and his country. He was a one-term wonder who got things done, but at what cost?
The year 1850 was a time of compromise, but neither Zachary Taylor or Millard Fillmore did much to ease the tension. The question of expanding slavery into the territories brought about a constitutional crisis. Senator Henry Clay and Stephen Douglas would craft the "deal" that was meant to keep the Union together.
The United States was in need of a strong leader, but what we got were Presidents Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan. Despite their best efforts, the two men only managed to drive the nation further apart, destroy one party and see a new party rise from the ashes, and make a hero of a frontier lawyer from Illinois.
When Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated, he became president of a fractured Union. America was poised for what would become the bloodiest chapter in its young history. The Civil War killed more Americans than all our other wars combined. It was only through Lincoln's strength, dedication, and faith that the Union survived.
Andrew Johnson was truly a victim of circumstance. A Democrat placed on the Republican ticket, Johnson became president after the death of our nation's most beloved chief executive. Lincoln's plans for reunification died with him, and Johnson's loyalty to Lincoln's vision almost destroyed the presidency.
In 1868, America turned to the war hero and man of the people, Ulysses S. Grant. Grant was a man who would roll up his sleeves and get straight to work. Not big on politics, Grant would chart a course through the waters of reconstruction based on what he saw as the right thing to do.
