United states presidential election of 1848 (what if william henry harrison never died)

The United States Presidential Election of 1848 was the 16th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 7, 1848. In the aftermath of the Texan–American War, Democrat Levi Woodbury took the victory against Henry Clay, a popular Kentucky politician.

Inauguration
Webster was sworn in as president by Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney on March 4, 1845, in a ceremony held on the East Portico of the United States Capitol. Webster, who was 63 at his inauguration, delivered a 3,500 word speech calling the current political situation a "case of pure ministerial incompetence widespread on our soil, which we can attribute to the Jacksonian spoils system, a wicked approach to the political climate."

His inauguration was notable for the fact it was not only attended by outgoing president Harrison, but former president Andrew Jackson. When questioned why he attended the inauguration, Jackson replied with my life is at an average point, I needed something to cheer up my lonely soul. According to Harrison, Jackson was praised like ''when Washington crossed the Delaware. God bless our Carolinian general!''

Administration
When forming his cabinet, Webster wanted to have individuals who were experienced and intelligent, as he supported a system of appointing people based on merit. President Harrison worked to abolish the spoils system however was unsuccessful and as one of his campaign promises, Webster hoped to abolish it entirely. Webster's first appointment confirmed was William Sprague III for Secretary of the Treasury, whom he once said of as being an unfettered bold lawmaker. Soon after, all of his other appointments were confirmed, with James A. Pearce's appointment as Secretary of War as the last one confirmed in 1845.

After the Texan-American War broke out, James A. Pearce resigned mostly due to the deterring relationship between Pearce and Webster, as well as opposing the war. In place of him, Webster appointed popular general Winfield Scott. In 1847 Jacob Collamer resigned due to many cabinet feuds with not just Webster, but the rest of the cabinet. In 1846, James Wilson II resigned due to wanting to run for Senator of his state. He replaced them with Charles Francis Adams Sr. and John D. Sloat respectively.

Judicial Appointments
During Webster's 4 year term in office, he had to appoint three justices. The first was after the death of Joseph Story and the second was after the death of Henry St. George Tucker Sr. Webster first appointed Hiland Hall and then appointed James Booth Jr.

Texan-American War
Prelude

In the early 1820s, the Republic of Mexico officially became independent after the Mexican War of Independence. The United States was the first to recognize the country however ever since then relations slowly deteriorated. In the 1830s and 1840s, the United States, like France and Britain, sought a reparations treaty with Mexico for various acts committed by Mexican citizens and authorities, including the seizure of American ships. Though the United States and Mexico had agreed to a joint board to settle the various claims prior to Webster's presidency, many Americans accused the Mexican government of acting in bad faith in settling the claims.

During the presidency of William Harrison, President Harrison along with Webster rejected the annexation of Texas fearing a war with Mexico. While it was supported by Whigs and a few Democrats, many from the Democratic party like advisor John Tyler and Senator John C. Calhoun were against Harrison's handling and were soon disappointed when they found out Webster was against it. In his inaugural address, Webster called the Texas issue something that will make the already divisive country even more divided among it's strings. Calhoun strongly critiqued Webster's inaugural address in an interview remarking it as a cowardly excuse for the president, who is an awful lot like a sloth.

In December 1845, a group of Americans known as the Land-Claimers traveled to Texas and officially proclaimed it as American land. They placed up flags, sang American songs and even said to many people living there that President Webster started annexing Texas. After hearing the news, President Webster was outraged and officially proclaimed that he did not do such thing. The Texan government was very disappointed and their disappointment stayed.

In February 1846 a group of young Americans went to Texas with weapons in hopes of raiding the country. The news quickly hit the headlines of D.C. and wanting to preserve their independence, Webster ordered a local militia to stop the group. Many saw this as vicious, but the situation turned out very peaceful.

By the time of May 1846, Texas really wanted to join the United States trying their hardest to negotiate a treaty with Webster hoping to be purchased or annexed. After President Webster turned down the occasion multiple times, the Texans started thinking about a war. After much thinking between diplomats, scholars and historians, they came to an idea. The idea was that Texas would join Mexico in hopes of Mexico declaring war on the U.S. When the proposed the idea, the Mexicans wholeheartedly agreed and soon the Houston-Anna Agreement was drafted and it passed. On May 21st, Texas officially became part of Mexico again and it was a surprise to Webster when the news came, since the Houston-Anna Agreement and everything before and after it was very secretive. When asked in private about it by David Conner, Webster replied with I hope it settles our difficulties permanently.

War

On June 1st, after several days of preparing the military, the newly formed Mexican-Texan Republic declared war on the United States. This came as a great shock to the country and many politicians, notably Illinois Senator Abraham Lincoln, opposed the war. The absolute outrage in the country inspired some to open their own newspapers, one of the most famous being from former president Martin van Buren. His newspaper articles were known as van Buren's judgement.

On June 2nd, Santa Anna led an army of 15,000 men at the Sabine River, between Texas and Louisiana. Anna hoped to take control of the river and then strengthen the forts around it, hoping that it will be a secure territorial gain for them at the peace negotiations. Anna passed the river with no major issues, however he was soon met with 3 local militias totaling 10,000 people at DeRidder, Louisiana. At the Battle of DeRidder, the American militiamen retreated with the Mexican continuing. Anna soon told a man to report the news to the Mexican people and the government decided to sent an extra 10,000 soldiers. Anna lost 4,000 men while the American militias lost 5,600 men.

Webster soon had a cabinet meeting however the meeting was delayed due to James A. Pearce's resignation. He recommended Winfield Scott for the position, however the meeting was held before Scott was confirmed. The cabinet concluded that the best interest of the United States is to raise a strong, productive and skilled military while imposing high tariffs on Mexico.

On June 5th, Santa Anna's army was built up back to 16,000 people when the new soldiers came. His confidence was boosted however it soon disappeared with a devastating loss at the Battle of Ville Platte, general Zachary Taylor strategically took his army of 11,000 people and with fast movement and many deceiving decisions, Taylor's army defeated Anna's army with less casualties. Anna retreated with many of his men lost. After the battle ended, Webster with congressional approval imposed high tariffs on Mexico in hopes of increasing revenue for infrastructure plans while hurting their economy. The plan succeeded and with the revenue gained was used to build an extension to the Erie canal as well as a few railroads for the sake of reporting information.

As Anna was retreating, the government decided to send many other generals at other places in hopes of gaining territory. General Mariano Arista with his army went to the today territory of Wyoming in hopes of taking over the territory and then focusing on territories surrounding it. Unfortunately for Arista, coming to the today territory of Wyoming was much more difficult than expected since just hours before, Webster strengthened federal forts on all Mexican-American borders. After Arista destroyed the forts, he was met with even more resistance as general Winfield Scott and officer Stephen W. Kearny both threw their forces at the opponent, crushing them in the long run.

Meanwhile, a little known general known as Franklin Pierce got a federal militia from his state of New Hampshire and ,without notifying Webster, launched an invasion of today's east Colorado. Pierce's actions shocked the nation, as he ordered towns to be burned and for railroads to be crushed. Pierce was a member of the New Hampshire Senate and his actions, while absolutely shocking, also bolstered his popularity significantly.

In August of 1846, Webster ordered John C. Fremont and John D. Sloat to go and destroy harbors in California. The previous month, he told his Secretary of the Navy David Conner to boost up navy spending and implement reform, which Connor was successful in doing. Fremont and Sloat went to California with 17 warships in total. When they came on August 9th, the blow up several harbors and shot the people working there with pistols. Due to this, 41 people died and the seaside of California was completely destroyed. Webster's cabinet overwhelmingly supported the actions of Fremont and Sloat.

After the attacks, Santa Anna, angrier than ever, got the largest army he ever got consisting of 145,000 people and soon went to attack the current territory of Montana and in a period of 3 days, he took over the territory. Webster sent general Taylor to battle and on August 22nd, Taylor and Anna fought with their armies. Anna's army was able to make Taylor's retreat (with Anna losing 7,000 men), however it was soon attacked from the back when general Pierce launched an attack on Anna's army, having to return from the west of Utah. Pierce's tactics were able to kill a lot of Anna's men, but they also had to retreat. At this point, Anna was at a stale mate and it got worse when general Taylor ame back again and killed more men. After the third attack on them, Anna retreated to Mexico.

Meanwhile, general Herrera was defeated by officer Worth and the Mexicans started regretting their decision to wage war, as they saw that the Americans were much more skilled and had many more supplies. President Anna got harsh criticism due to the improving situation of the Americans and many were starting to get ambitions to gain the presidential position soon. General Pierce took over Nevada and Utah, while generals Taylor and Scott took over Texas and half of New Mexico. Officers Fremont and Sloat destroyed many harbors.

By the time of January of 1847, the U.S.A. was easily defending their forts and bases from Mexican attacks while the Mexicans had difficulties. General Pierce was still destroying many forces with Webster officially announcing approval of his actions on January 2nd, a few months after Pierce started. As the war seemed to be winding down, Webster told his Minister to Britain John M. Clayton to travel to Britain and keep relations warm. Clayton was largely successful in his goal, with Webster in private thanking him.

In March 1847, Santa Anna officially sued for peace as he sent a letter to Webster offering peace. Webster took the letter and made a copy of it. One copy he sent to the Senate and the other he too to his cabinet in a meeting. The Senate was very friendly towards the treaty while the House was mostly split.

The Battle of Juab showcased how weak the Mexican military was. Despite the Mexicans having a larger army (25,000), they were defeated by general Ulysses Grant, who was promoted by Webster. Grant swiftly defeated officer Flores and it showed the true weaknesses of how the Mexican military combated. Their speed was very slow and their weapons often didn't have many bullets. After the battle, Webster asked for a vote for peace from Congress. Congress mostly approved, with some disapproving, like James Polk, who was a member of Tennessee House of Representatives.

Peace

After Congress approved the peace idea, Webster called for Mexico to officially remove all troops so that safe negotiations can happen. Anna listened and a few days after on May 14th, Webster with Everett and Scott traveled to Tijuana, Mexico and were ready to negotiate a treaty. Initially, Webster wanted to take no territory, as he wasn't an expansionist and promoted amnesty to any and all Mexican Immigrants. Many were incredibly upset and blasted Webster, calling him a traitor. Some even made impeachment proceedings which initially didn't scare Webster (since Congress was divided), but then a few expansionist Whigs voiced vocal support for it.

Soon after, Manuel de la Pena y Pena became President of Mexico and was very willing to negotiate the treaty. Webster offered to only take Texas, but many insisted otherwise and it was clear that whatever treaty Webster negotiates, if it doesn't please Congress it will fail and so he pandered to them. At the end, the two sides were able to negotiate: The Treaty of Tijuana. The treaty guidelines were like this:


 * Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada and Arizona will be given to the United States and Mexico must recognize it


 * Mexico will be given to $50,000,000 for the territories and an extra $10,000,000 for their debts


 * Immigrants from both sides will be respectfully treated and will be granted the same rights as average citizens

The war resulted in 52,100 people dead on the Mexican side and 23,000 people dead on the American side. The treaty went into effect on May 27th, thus ending the war.

Foreign Affairs
Prussia

In 1848, Webster sent his Minister to Prussia Henry Wheaton to negotiate a treaty with Prussia in hopes of opening rapid trade ties with Prussia while also slightly lowering tariffs rates between the two entities. Webster hoped that this idea will pass since Congress was mostly split and both sides had something they supported. After the treaty was negotiated and signed by Prussia, Congress held a vote and it was a success. It went into effect on October 16th, 1848 and it increased chances for a re-election run (which many hoped for).

Cuba

Many politicians hoped that Webster would purchase Cuba, however all of them disagreed on the reasoning. Some wanted it to promote slave power, others wanted more power overseas and some wanted to use it as a big naval base. Whatever the reasoning was, Webster destroyed any chances of an event like that happening during his presidency as he vocally showed great distaste for it. General Franklin Pierce asked Webster about a possible treaty with Cuba to purchase them, but Webster shut it down.

Domestic Affairs
Compromise of 1848

The Texan-American War was seen as a largely successful war in which tons of territory was gained for the United States, however soon after the problems surrounding it came to light. In 1820, the Missouri Compromise was created in which states under the 36°30′ parallel would become slave states and states over the parallel will become free states. With this new territory Northerners were scared that slave power would drastically increase. After the Treaty of Tijuana, many were starting to get bitter at each other due to these problems and Webster hoped to appear as a moderate.

In the months after the Treaty of Tijuana and before 1848, Southerners like David L. Yulee often brought long speeches hoping to sway moderates to repeal the Missouri Compromise, in hopes of making states above the 36°30′ parallel slave states. Northerners like William L. Dayton hated their ideas and wished to defeat it using filibusters. Soon after, the Yulee Act of 1847 was drafted by David Yulee in hopes of nullifying the Missouri Compromise however it failed miserably in Congress after a filibuster performed by Senator Abraham Lincoln.

In January of 1848, Webster hoped to assure a Whig victory in the upcoming election that year and so took matters in his own hands. He sent a letter to Henry Clay whom he disliked, but knew was the man who could help him form a compromise. The same day, he got a response which was in overwhelming agreement with Webster's request. 2 days later, Clay came to the White House and after several hours of negotiating, the two came to an idea for a compromise. 2 days later he organized a cabinet meeting and his cabinet was in full agreement. The Compromise of 1848 had the following guidelines:


 * Texas will be admitted as a slave state


 * Iowa will be admitted as a free state


 * The territories of Utah and Kansas will be created


 * Texas will not be allowed to split into multiple states which was a fear of Northerners


 * Domestic slave trade will be protected under this compromise until the official end of slavery


 * The Missouri Compromise will be protected and upheld.

Despite being please with it, Webster feared that it would not pass through Congress. In both the House and the Senate, it was very close but the Compromise barely passed due to many factors. It officially went into effect on February 8th, 1848. He appointed Richard M. Young as Governor of Kansas and James Strang as Governor of Utah.

Spoils System Termination Act of 1846

During the 1830s, President Andrew Jackson instituted the Spoils System, which was used by a president to appoint their supports to government positions. Many accused it of being corrupt because it was appointing people based on how supportive or close they were to the president and not how experienced and skilled they were. The Whigs strongly opposed it and President Harrison worked hard to eliminate it, but was unsuccessful in it. In his 1844 campaign, Webster promised to continue Harrison's efforts and destroy the system.

In April 1846, Webster with his Attorney General James Wilson II drafted the Spoils System Termination Act of 1846 which would have made the appointing system based on merit. It provided for the selection of some government employees by competitive exams, rather than ties to politicians or political affiliation. It also made it illegal to fire or demote these government officials for political reasons. It passed through the House but was a tie in the Senate. Vice President Theodore Frelinghuysen casted the tie breaking vote in favor of the bill. It went effect on April 30th.

Infrastructure

In 1849, Webster passed the second Infrastructure Act which was able to implement many new ideas to the table. In Texas, the Houston Railroad, named after Sam Houston, was created. It ordered to subsidize the Illinois Central railroad from Chicago to Mobile, and for a canal at Sault Ste. Marie. The Erie Canal was finally completed (new construction was started in 1846). A new big canal in Vermont was created which was 10 kilometres long and it has since then been known as the Extensive Canal of Beauty.

Legislation Passed During the War

During the Texan-American War, Congress and Webster worked hard to pass legislation to help push the war efforts and make the war faster and easier. The legislation list includes:


 * Mexican Tariff which was imposed on Mexico in hopes of getting more revenue for the U.S. while also hurting the Mexican economy. Economists in the 1850s overwhelmingly supported the tariff but nowadays they are very split over how successful the tariff truly was.


 * Infrastructure Plans which included an extension to the Erie canal and the construction of a dozen railroads.


 * Military Spending Act which increased spending for the army drastically in November 1846 (by 25%).

States Admitted into the Union


 * Texas


 * Iowa

Election of 1848
In May of 1848, Webster announced that he will not run for a second term and instead backed his Secretary of State Everett to run. In the Whig National Convention, Everett was met with a great opponent. Henry Clay ran for president yet again and hoped he could snatch the nomination. The three leading candidates were Everett, Clay and Winfield Scott. At the end, Henry Clay was nominated for president with Abbott Lawrence as his running mate.

In the Democratic National Convention, Levi Woodbury ran unopposed for the presidential nomination, running as a compromise candidate. The vice presidential slot was sought by many, including James Iver McKay, Stephen Douglas and James K. Polk. At the end, however, Mississippi Governor John A. Quitman got the vice presidential nomination, mostly to balance the ticket.

During this election, the Free Soil Party and Liberty Party also nominated their candidates. The Free Soil Party nominated former president Martin van Buren, while the Liberty Party nominated John P. Hale. Both managed to split the vote in some states and they even gained a few electoral votes in the North.

In the final results, Woodbury won with 147 electoral votes with Clay at second place with 119 electoral votes. Van Buren got 19 electoral votes and Hale only gained 6. This election oversaw the end of the 8 year rule under Whig Presidents.