Jill Feeney
Cranford Delegation
Franklin Pierce
Jill Feeney
Cranford Delegation
Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce’s role within the White House bloc is President of the United States. The job of the president consists of numerous responsibilities and powers including, deciding whether to sign legislation into action or veto it, acting as America’s Commander and Chief, enforcing federal laws and making treaties. The President also has to ability to create a cabinet of advisors.
Before being elected President, Franklin Pierce had an extensive history of being involved in politics. He was the son the New Hampshire Governor, a man who fought in the American Revolution, and was raised around many of the Jeffersonian Democratic views. After graduating law school in 1829, Pierce was elected to serve in the New Hampshire state legislature where he served for four years and was elected Speaker of the House. From there, Pierce was elected to the United States House of Representative and in 1837 he was elected into the United States Senate. After being dedicated to the Senate for five years, Pierce resigned to perform law in New Hampshire. Throughout his early political career, Pierce became a well know Democrat and was then appointed by President Polk to be the United States District Attorney. Before running for president in 1852, Pierce joined the army to fight in the Mexican-American War.
Pierce was a member of the Democratic Party; they had many similar views of Jeffersonian Democracy. Pierce and the Democratic Party were supporters of slavery and the Compromise of 1850. The Democratic Party was opposed to many of the views of the Whig Party. If Pierce had to opportunity to start his own political party, it would be similar to Jeffersonian Democrats. His party would be more powerful than the Whig Party, proslavery, support America’s attempt to expand their territories, and support both the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Compromise of 1850.
As the President of the United States, Franklin Pierce will be involved in many major issues up until 1856. Pierce will be involved in the overall break-down between the north and the south that occurred throughout the United Stated, more specifically when Pierce makes the decision whither or not to support and sign the Compromise of 1850. Another pressing issue that Pierce will be involved in will be the expansion of the United States; two ways that Pierce tried to expand was by gaining new territories and making railroads. Lastly, Pierce will be involved in keeping the peace between the abolitionists and the people that are for slavery, otherwise, there could be an incident such as Bleeding Kansas.
In order to prevent an event such as Bleeding Kansas, Pierce would have had to not sign the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The Kansas-Nebraska Act created the two territories know as Kansas and Nebraska. These two new territories were allowed to decide for themselves whether or not they were going to be a state with or without slavery. Because of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, people from both the North and the South rushed to the new territories to claim their land and make the decision whether Kansas and Nebraska would or would not be a slave state. If Pierce had changed the terms of the Kansas-Nebraska
Act, Bleeding Kansas could have been prevented.
The railroad that was to be built from Chicago to California strongly affected the United States because in order to complete the railroad, new territories needed to be purchased. A member of Pierce’s cabinet, Jefferson Davis persuaded pierce to send James Gadsden to Mexico to by the land that is know known as Arizona and Southern New Mexico. Overall, this one purchase alone cost the government ten million dollars. Another railroad that was being expanded was the Underground Railroad, which Pierce was against for numerous reasons, mainly because it was used to transport runaway slaves.
The California gold rush will be one of the many events that effect the government. As news traveled throughout America, more and more people moved to California. Because of the sudden increase in people, farms, stores and businesses were created to serve the new population. This indirectly helped the government by making California’s economy more prosperous.
After the Mexican American War ended and the treaty was ratified in 1848, the United States and Mexico had peaceful relations. Relations between America and England were not as easy as the Mexican-American relations, because the Americans supported the Central American counties that England attempted to control. Another issue that England and America did agree on was slavery, England had gotten rid of all slavery of 1838; however, the members of England’s lower class were often treated only slightly better than American slaves. Although America and England did not see eye to eye on every issue, England tried to stay neutral when dealing with America.
Cited Sources:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/fp14.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2952.html
http://www.sonofthesouth.net/mexican-war/war.htm
http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/pierce
**Please remember to also send your position papers to me -- JFeeney91@gmail.com**
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John Fremont is a senator from California. Senator’s responsibilities include agreeing on treaties before their ratification and consenting to appointments of the Cabinet secretaries and the federal judges.
precondition to their ratification and consenting to appointments of Cabinet secretaries and federal judges. He served as a lieutenant in the US military before and during the Mexican-American war.
Fremont is a Republican, and around the 1800s, this party is liberal. Abolition and change are major themes of the republican party.
Fremont’s party would be opposed to slavery, were he to create one. It would greatly emphasize the significance of a strong military and be vehemently opposed to many of the South’s views, as he once declared martial law in Missouri and ordered that secessionists' property be confiscated and their slaves emancipated.
Fremont will be most involved with slavery, the Fugitive Slave Act, and secession. He takes various actions to display his aversion to slavery, such as the example stated above. His responses will be extreme and drastic, his only goal to end slavery in the United States. He will try to utilize force and the military to accomplish his visions.
The mass movement to California further enforces the idea of “manifest destiny.” Since people abandon their farms to seek a better life, the government has to be less dependent upon farmers and more dependent upon the industry of the North. This causes the Union’s government to be more stable and more economically sound.
Mexico’s relationship with the United States is severely damaged at the end of the Mexican-American war. Mexico lost almost half its territory, now Texas and California, allowing the U.S. to seem and become more powerful to the rest of the world. America treated Mexico extremely poorly, causing animosity and stress between the nations.
Fremont would use the military to show the opposition that his side is strong, dangerous, and ready to do whatever it must in order to win. Fremont would push for a nation that is entirely slave-free in order to prevent an occurrence like Bleeding Kansas.
The development of the railroads will impact the government immensely. The railroads allow America to truly become a superpower, as it encourages fast, stable economic growth and allows goods to be spread quickly, cheaply, and efficiently.
Fremont is against slavery because he was able to see firsthand its ramifications, as he was born in Georgia. He is also loyal to California, a free state, as his expeditions west and his success in the Gold Rush allowed him to become well known.
The alteration Fremont would make to the Missouri Compromise is to have both Missouri and Maine enter the union as free states and would probably want all areas free of slavery. He is not opposed to the Underground Railroad.
England and Mexico’s relationship will further bitter America’s and England’s relationship, and it will cause America to seek and sell goods elsewhere. America will extend its foreign policy because a place of close proximity will not ally with them, and England is too strong to fight at this time. The Compromise of 1850 will only further anger abolitionists, so the Compromise will not hinder the development of the Civil War.
http://www.civilwarhome.com/fremontbio.htm
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/legacies/NE/200003282.html
http://www.sfmuseum.net/hist6/masonrpt.html
http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Missouri.html
http://www.tshaonline.org/publications/journals/shq/online/v009/n2/article_2.html
http://www.tshaonline.org/publications/journals/shq/online/v009/n2/article_2.html
Neha Sobti
Peddie School
Caleb Cushing
My role within the White House is serving as Attorney General for President Franklin Pierce. The attorney general is head of the U.S. Department of Justice He or she represents the United States in legal matters and gives advice and opinions to the president. My responsibilities include enforcing federal laws, furnishing legal counsel in federal cases, construing the laws under which other executive departments act, and investigating violations of federal laws.
Positions I have held or currently serving are Massachusetts House of Representatives, Massachusetts Senate, Congressman, Chairman of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and United States Ambassador to China.
I am a member of the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party were supporters of slavery and opposed the abolition of it. The party also favored states’ rights. Eventually, most of the party members supported secession from the Union. If Cushing had an opportunity to start his own political party, it would be a very powerful and ambitious one. He strongly supported slavery, expansion of territories and both the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Compromise of 1850. His party would be strong advocates of the Mexican War and providing money for the army.
Three major issues that I would be involved with are the Mexican War, the US connections with China and Japan, and the secession of the South including the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Compromise of 1850. As for the Mexican War, I would want to fund the troops because I support the war. If the people of the State oppose my suggestion then I will advance the money for equipment myself. Commercial expansion in Asia involves diplomatic entreaties with two important nations, China and Japan. The "China Market" is a significant lure for American merchants who had engaged in trade with the empire since the 18th century. I undertook a mission to open Chinese ports to American trade. In 1844, I was able to negotiate the he Treaty of Wang Hiya, the first treaty between the United States and China. To complete our Asian invasion, I will negotiate a treaty with Japan.
In early 1848, mass amounts of gold were discovered in California and soon after
proportional amounts of people moved to California due to the gold rush. How will the
mass movement of people affect the government and their policies?
When the Gold Rush began, California was a peculiarly lawless place. On the day when gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill, California was still technically part of Mexico, under American military occupation as the result of the Mexican-American War. With the signing of the treaty ending the war on February 2, 1848, California became a possession of the United States, but it was not a formal "territory". There was no civil legislature, executive or judicial body for the entire region. Therefore it is now the government’s responsibility to organize the territory into a functional state.
The relationship between Mexico and the US now that the war is ending will continue to be peaceful as it was before the complications with territory borders.
In order to prevent an event such as Bleeding Kansas, the president's administration needs to provide law and order. Although I, myself, am part of the Democratic Party, I think the only way to prevent “Bleeding Kansas” would be for us democrats to not use The Kansas-Nebraska Act to our advantage of getting even with the North. These events clearly indicate that the Democratic party's master formula, local control of slavery-related matters, produced not fairness but disaster in the territories and therefore we should take full responsibility for them and prevent it.
New railroads being built do affect the government because we need to pay for the territories we plan on having it run through and some of the territories are owned by other countries we need to negotiate with.
My character is for slavery because he is “a northern man with southern principles”. He strongly believes in state’s rights and therefore he has no problem with slavery. He upheld the Dred Scott decision claiming that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional so he feels as though the compromise should be removed. His stance on the Underground Railroad and its activities is that it was unconstitutional and against the Dred Scott decision which he supported.
Since Mexico remains peaceful with the US, and we have been neutral with England especially in this conflict with slavery, I think these relations will keep the US foreign policy stable and in fair shape.
Although I support the act, I believe that the Compromise of 1850, proposed by Henry Clay, will not successfully help America from preventing a civil war because the conflict has already reached an extreme tension that cannot be avoided nor stopped.
Sited Sources:
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C001016
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/147305/Caleb-Cushing
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Caleb_Cushing.aspx
http://www.baxleystamps.com/litho/cushing.shtml
Doug Fell
HSC White House Bloc Position Paper
I am James Dobbin and my role within the bloc is Secretary of the Navy. Some of my
responsibilities include the authority to organize and conduct all aspects of the Department of the Navy. I am also in charge of the construction and repair of naval ships and equipment. In the past, I have graduated from the University of North Carolina. I have also served as a Member of Congress from 1845 to 1847, and a member of the North Carolina Legislature from 1848 to 1852. A year before being appointed to my current position, I served as a delegate to the 1852 Democratic National Convention. I am a proud member of the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party was founded on the basis that wisdom and compassion could be found within every individual and that a stable government should be formed upon this statement. We believe that America should be established on a popular, broad base. If I were to create my own political party, it would be established around law and the military. I am a very firm believer in the Navy and other military in our country. I firmly believe that a strong Navy and military serves as a huge advantage in achieving peace with other nations. The principles of my political party would be a lot like that of the Democratic Party, except the United States Navy would be particularly incorporated a bit more.
Three major issues I would be involved in would be the government and policies, slavery, and world peace. I will have to keep our government and its policies strong, even if many people disagree or feel it is the wrong decision. I will have to respond in difficult times by staying confident and keeping my views strong. I will have to respond to slavery and racism by keeping all men equal, and striving to keep the principles of our nation strong. Slavery is a big issue throughout America and it must be dealt with accordingly. The most important issue that I will be a part of is world peace and my duties as Secretary of the Navy. I am in charge of all operations in the Navy and plan on instituting reform throughout the Navy. I believe that a strong Navy is very important and eventually will lead to peace in everything we do as a country.
The mass movement of people to California due to the gold rush will affect the government and their policies very much. The sudden, extreme increase in population created some problems in the government. These people that had just migrated to California had to find places to live and had to follow the policies of the government. The government may even have to change or edit a few of their policies so that all the people can be treated fairly and justly. It wasn’t until 1851 that gold was discovered elsewhere and the pressure of the population was taken off the California government and its policies.
After the end of the Mexican-American War, the relationship between Mexico and America will be greatly effected. The United States made many gains in territory and took full control of California, New Mexico, and Texas. This exchanging of land led to even more conflicts between Mexico and America, as well as a few nations across the rest of the world. Another issue that caused conflict after the war was slavery. It was a big issue as to what would be the future of the states that were given up to America after the war. The outlaw of slavery was favored in the new states and it was later passed in Congress to end slavery in the newly gained states. Overall, the relationship between Mexico and the United States will never be the same again due to the war. Whether they are big or small, there will always be conflicts between these two countries.
With all the racism and strong opinions about slavery that exist in the world today, preventing an event such as Bleeding Kansas would be a very difficult task. However, I would go about doing this by placing severe consequences on anyone that chooses to act as those did at the time of Bleeding Kansas. An event like Bleeding Kansas can tear apart a nation and cause many problems. I would figure out a way to put an end to it and have everyone be peaceful with each other.
The building and expanding of railroads may have a slight impact on the government, but not a huge one. Mainly, railroads would be used for transporting goods to different places. With a larger and more advanced railroad system, the economy may be able to function better. A good economy will positively affect the government and strengthen it. Also, railroads can be used for the transportation of people as well, which can also positively affect the government. The expanding and reforming of railroads will always make our government and society better.
I am against slavery because I believe that all men are equal, and that nobody should have to serve another. All men should work for what they get and should earn everything. I also believe that the Missouri Compromise was done very well and nothing needs to be changed. It is a good document with a good message and the compromise has and will work out very well. I also believe that the Underground Railroad is very creative. It was the slaves’ way of trying to be free and freedom is something that everyone should have the right to. I have no problem with the Underground Railroad and it should continue as long as slavery does.
Relations between England and Mexico will affect America’s foreign policy simply because of the location of these two countries. These relations may affect the way America interacts with both England and Mexico. England and Mexico are America’s two closest neighbors, and whatever happens between those two could very well end up creating a problem for America.
I believe that the Compromise of 1850 will definitely help America to be successful in preventing a civil war because it is fair. The Compromise will be fair and just to all people. Although some people may not agree with the Compromise, I believe it was proposed very well by Henry Clay and should work out. Our country was very close to a civil war, but there is always a way to work it out and I believe the Compromise of 1850 did just that. It is a very effective Compromise and will be remembered in history.
Works Cited:
• http://www.democrats.org/a/party/history.html
• http://ceres.ca.gov/ceres/calweb/geology/goldrush.html
• http://ncamel214.tripod.com/id4.html
• http://www.nps.gov/archive/fosc/bleeding.htm
Ryan Wetmore
James Guthrie’s roll within the White House bloc is the Senator from Kentucky. The job of the senator is to propose new laws and vote on proposed laws by other senators. He would also vote on confirming federal justices and Supreme Court Justices. Guthrie’s family was already into politics which only helped him to get involved in politics. His father served in the General Assembly of Kentucky from 1800-1805 and then again in 1808. His father also served in the military so Guthrie graduated from McAllister’s Military School in Bardstown Kentucky. At first Guthrie worked on a flatboat transporting goods up and down rivers. However he found this work unfulfilling and he studied law under Judge John Rowan and was a lawyer before entering politics. He served in the Kentucky General Assembly from 1827 to 1840. In 1849 we became president of the Kentucky Constitutional Convention. He also served as president of Louisville and Nashville Railroad and the Louisville and Portland Canal Company. He also helped find the University of Louisville and became its second president.
James Guthrie was Democratic. The Democrats mostly consisted of farmers city laborers and Irish-Catholics. They opposed elites and aristocrats and opposed modernizing industry if it resulted in higher taxes. Their main domestic issues were banking and tariffs. They favored expansion westward so they could acquire more farmlands and were in support of the war against Mexico. They supported free trade. However, the party was split on the issue of slavery. All these political ideas could be referred to as the Jeffersonian Democracy.
If I could create my own political party in the 1800’s it’s ideals would be to first have freedom of speech, freedom of press, and freedom to worship any religion or none if you so choose. I would support free trade with other countries not only to be a foundation for a strong economy but to also strengthen friendships with other countries. I would support Westward Expansion as I believe the bigger the United States is the better. It would provide more land to cultivate and add to America’s population and probably boosting the economy in the process by not only receiving more land but also creating more jobs for more people. I would also support expansion into Texas even if it was against the will of Santa Anna of Mexico. Texas is a valuable state and the Texans want to join America. If it came to war with Mexico I would be confident in my military’s ability to win. Also we would not lose that big of a trade partner if relations with Mexico soured. I would try to abolish slavery as it is ethically wrong. I would force all landowners who used slaves to give them some sort of compensation because if they just released the slaves they would have no where to go, no job, and no shelter and their only choice would be to go back to their original slave owners if they wanted to survive.
The three major issues my character is facing is whether or not America should abolish slavery, if America should expand westward and also into Texas, and if the South should secede if the North did not change its position on slavery and if it should be abolished or not. Guthrie was a slave owner and a states right activist and was in favor of slavery. He was not strongly in favor of it though. He said if a law was passed abolishing slavery he would not fight it but believed it was important to America’s success. Guthrie was in strong favor of westward expansion as he was the Secretary of the Treasury and the gold found in California and had large budget surpluses. He shrank the national debt by thirty-eight million dollars from 1853 to 1857. He didn’t have a strong position on if America should expand into Texas though. Guthrie believed that the Southern states should not secede under any circumstances. He believed this because the southerners controlled the majority of the House and Congress and believed any Anti-Slavery bills passed by the new President Abraham Lincoln, who was in favor of abolishing slavery, would be vetoed before they could be passed as laws.
The California Gold Rush in 1848 would effect the government in a big way. As the population in California increased the government built railroads, farms, stores, and various businesses on the way to California and in California. This helped not only the Californian economy but the American economy also as mentioned above. It created more jobs and spread the population out more and also gave America one more international trade item.
After the victory of the Mexican-American War a great surge of patriotism spread through America. Relations between Mexico and America were bitter as Mexico gave up a huge amount of land for about half the money America offered for the land before the war. Mexico began colonizing its northernmost colonies to make sure America didn’t try to conquer them as well. Americans now truly believed in Manifest Destiny, which was the belief that Americans would conquer the entire North American continent. This belief was only further reinforced as America had also just recently gained parts of Oregon as well.
To prevent another situation like Bleeding Kansas Guthrie would not leave it up to the states to decide if they wanted to be a slave state or a free state. Doing this basically allowed two sides to fight to see if Kansas and Missouri would be slave states or free states. So the first thing Guthrie would do would be to urge the President not to sign the Kansas-Missouri Act. It should have been a Federal Decision or at least a state decision. The citizens should not have been allowed to decide either way if the states should be slave states or free states.
I think the building or railroads would affect the government. They would have to pay for the railroads to be built obviously but theses railroads would make it much easier to cash in on the gold rush in California or any other economical endeavor in the west. Not only could they transport people to work at new jobs in new industries but they could simply be used for trading goods across the country from coast to coast. This way would be much faster than any other way to do trans-continental trade.
My character is for slavery as he believes it is somewhat essential to the economy as he does not believe there would be enough people to work in the south without slaves. My personal opinion is that slavery should be abolished completely so if I could change the Missouri Compromise I would abolish it completely as opposed to just in a certain geographic location. My character is opposed to the Underground Railroad because it is transporting slaves away from their jobs into the free north and is hurting the Southern economy. My character believes this kind of railroad is bad as opposed to regular railroads which help commerce.
http://www.google.com/search?q=Senator+James+Guthrie&rls=com.microsoft:*:IE-Address&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7DKUS
http://www.answers.com/James%20Guthrie
http://www.tulane.edu/~latner/Background/BackgroundElection.html
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9B03E1D8153EEE34BC4E51DFB766838E679FDE
http://www.ustreas.gov/education/history/secretaries/jguthrie.shtml
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=G000534
http://kentucky.gov/Pages/home.aspx
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