 |
 Stephen Watts
Kearny entered the military at the
start of the War of 1812 and ended up making it a
career. He subsequently led the campaign that
captured New Mexico without a fight and served
briefly as Military Governor of California. |
 John Sevier
was one of the leaders of the State of Franklin
movement that ultimately led to the admission of
Tennessee as the 16th state in 1796. He
subsequently served six terms as Governor of
Tennessee and represented that state in the U.S.
House of Representatives. |
 Thomas
Hart Benton served in the U.S.
Senate for 30 years, during which time he was one
of President Andrew Jackson's strongest
supporters, an advocate for western expansion,
and a supporter of a gradual end to slavery. |
 Silas
Wright spent 26 years in political
service, including 2 years in the U.S. House, 11
years in the U.S. Senate, and one term as
Governor of New York. During those years, he was
a proponent of tariffs and of removing federal
deposits from the Bank of the United States, and
an opponent of abolition. |
 John
Caldwell Calhoun served multiple
terms in the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate, as
Secretary of War, as Vice-President (twice), and
as Secretary of State. In response to tariffs he
saw as unfair to the South, he declared that a
state had the right to nullify any
federal law it believed to be unconstitutional. |
 The Amistad
Case was a United States Supreme
Court case resulting from the rebellion of
Africans on board the Spanish schooner La
Amistad in 1839. The rebellion broke out when
the schooner, traveling along the coast of Cuba,
was taken over by a group of captives who had
earlier been kidnapped in Africa and illegally
sold into slavery. |
 The Adams-Onis
Treaty was signed in 1819 and
ratified in 1821. Under its terms,
Spain ceded East Florida to the
United States, renounced all claims to West
Florida and the Oregon Country, in exchange for
which the United States agreed to pay $5,000,000.
The treaty also established a boundary between
Mexico and the United States. |
 James Buchanan: A Chronology of
His Life and Career People found James Buchanan reserved at
first meeting, but warm and friendly when they
knew him better. His nephew described him as
"tall -- over six feet, broad shouldered,
with a portly, dignified bearing...; his eyes
were blue, intelligent, and kindly, with the
peculiarity that one was far- and the other
near-sighted, which resulted in a slight habitual
inclination of the head to one side ..." |
 Millard
Fillmore: A Chronology of His Life and Career
Millard Fillmore taught
himself reading, spelling, arithmetic, and
geography, studied law and became a lawyer, then
won election to the New York State Legislature
and to the U.S. House of Representatives. He did
not become known nationally, however, until the
Whig Party chose him to be Zachary Taylor's
vice-presidential running mate in 1848. |
 An
Overview of James Polk's Administration
As President, James Knox Polk
successfully directed the Mexican War, which won
enough Western territory to fom nine states. He
carried out every item of his political program,
making him the most successful President since
George Washington. |
 An
Overview of John Tyler's Administration
John Tyler was the first
Vice-President to become President upon the death
of the President, succeeding William Henry
Harrison barely a month after Harrison had taken
office. When he first took office, many Whig
leaders suggested Tyler be called only
"Acting President," but Tyler insisted
on taking over the office in fact as well as in
name. |
 An
Overview of William Henry Harrison's Life and
Career William Henry
Harrison gained fame as an Indian fighter,
especially after defeating the Shawnee Indians at
the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811, an
accomplishment which led to his being nicknamed
"Tippecanoe." |
 John
Adams: A Chronology of His Life and Career
John Adams seldom achieved
popularity during his long political career. His
bluntness, impatience, and vanity made him more
enemies than friends. On the great decisions of
his public career, history has proved him right
and his opponents wrong. |
 Manasseh
Cutler was an accomplished minister,
physician, and scientist, as well as one of the
men responsible for settling the vast Northwest
Territory. |
 Thomas
MacDonough entered the U.S. Navy at
the age of 17 and served with distinction during
the Tripolitan Wars in the Mediterranean. As
commander of the Lake Champlain squadron during
the War of 1812, he spearheaded a victory over
the British at Plattsburg, New York, that ended a
planned invasion of New York state. |
