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John C. Calhoun was the first Republican to be elected to the Presidency after the schism of the old Democratic-Republican Party in 1820. He’d campaigned on promises of renegotiating the Franklin Indian Treaty, safeguarding slavery where it existed and blocking attempts to keep slavery out of the territories and to try and negotiate an end to the simmering violence in Mexican Texas, where Anglo settlers had been agitating for either independence or at least greater representation in Mexico City and possible autonomy. Privately, Calhoun hoped a war might be fought that would simultaneously distract the country from the polarizing issues of slavery and Indian relocation, along with adding new territory to the country by annexing Texas.
First, however, was the issue of Presidential elections. For two consecutive elections, the selection of the nation’s chief executive had been sent to the House of Representatives because no candidate could secure a full majority of the electoral college. Some suggested that nothing needed to be fixed and the constitutional system should be left as is. However, many in Congress, as well as the President, felt frustrated that it seemed unlikely that any candidate could manage an outright majority with there being three major parties and all three of them mainly being regional in nature. Members from all three parties suggested that the requirement for a majority be dropped and that the candidate with the most votes in the electoral college be declared the winner. On April 18th, 1833, Congress passed the 16th Amendment, which did just that. The amendment's passage had wide support and would receive approval from the requisite number of states by early 1834.
Meanwhile, the Texas issue quickly became prominent after a gathering in Nagadoches, Texas in the late Spring of 1833, where the Anglo settlers created a list of demands to the Mexican government, which would have made Texas an independent republic in all but name. Leaders in Mexico City quickly rejected this document, and Anglo-Texan leaders began to organize a resistance movement. Discreetly, President Calhoun orders the War Department to send weapons, ammunition, and supplies to the would-be rebels. By the fall of 1833, there had been several skirmishes, and it looked like the Mexican Army was preparing to send in troops to crush the nascent rebellion.
Somewhat unexpectedly, liberal leaders in Mexico staged a coup against the sitting government, putting any potential military action against Texas on hold as the government first tried to use the military to remain in power, and then after it collapsed, the new leaders had to spend time reconsolidating control. In the meantime, Texans created a new provincial government, pledging loyalty to the new liberal, pro-democratic government in Mexico City while still also making plans for possible independence and working with President Calhoun’s administration to build up a supply of weapons should a more formal settlement with the new rulers of Mexico City prove elusive.
This temporary calm in Mexico shifted the focus to more domestic affairs. As promised, President Calhoun called for a conference in Franklin between the tribal leaders in the two “Federal Native Districts,” members of his administration, most notably Secretary of State Phillip Colfax and Vice President Brandon, and elected officials from Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. Ultimately, the President wanted to move from having two separate districts to one - or, better still, have all the Natives moved west of the Mississippi River to the Territory of Kanasaw. When the initial meeting opened in March of 1834, the Republican-leaning press praised the president’s plans, while the Federalists and Democrats criticized the wisdom of revisiting this issue a mere four years after the initial Franklin Indian Treaty had been signed. Tribal citizens in both districts balked when word reached them of the proposals coming from Washington House. The talks quickly broke down, and for a while, the issue lay unresolved, frustrating Calhoun to no end.
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Despite this domestic setback, the Calhoun administration enjoyed significant success in another field: establishing the United States Railway Company in the summer of 1834. This was based on a proposal from the FBI a year earlier, calling on the government to establish an “exploratory operation” into the feasibility of a state-owned and operated railway. In August of 1834, Congress approved the charter of the USRC with enough funds to construct a test line between Boston and Brooklyn, New York. Ground was broken on the new line in October, and the first train would run in early 1836 - ultimately proving a success and laying the groundwork for the the nationwide network that would explode in the coming decades.
Also of note, the precursor of the modern tri-level school system got the go-ahead for its first major trial in 1834. Frederick Preston, a professor at the University of the United States, proposed a new way to organize schools, especially in the western states and territories, two years before. He drafted the now-familiar concept where the state governments, with federal assistance, would set up local schools at three different age levels: primary schools for children ages 5-12, secondary schools for ages 13-15, and tertiary schools for ages 16-18. Students from tertiary schools would then feed into regional colleges and universities. Professor Preston convinced the Franklin City Council to pilot the program within the District of Washington, with a modest nod of support from Congress and President Calhoun. Within half a century, the so-called “Preston System” would become the mandated legal framework for education throughout the republic.
Foreign affairs recaptured national attention in January of 1835 when Mexican conservatives launched a counter-coup in Mexico City and declared the establishment of the Empire of Mexico. What the coup leaders had hoped would be a simple supplanting of the liberal government they despised quickly devolved into an all-out civil war between the Liberals and the Imperialists. Mexico’s northern provinces, including Texas, sided with the Liberals. The political situation in Texas had been strenuous in the lead-up to the Mexican Civil War, as the pro-independence faction, led by Stephen Austin, had advocated for the province to break away since before the liberal coup of 1833. Pushing back against the separatists were Anthony Benton and his supporters, who wanted to keep Texas in Mexico and make it one of the most important provinces of the new Mexican republic. Benton had been instrumental in crafting the province’s new constitution, which had received approval from Mexico City just before the counter-coup. Austin, meanwhile, had been crafting plans to try and start a revolt sometime in late 1835 or 1836. When the Civil War broke out, Austin offered Benton a truce: the separatists would join forces with the “constitutionalists” and try to defeat the Imperials, and then after the war was over, a serious discussion would occur about the future of Texas within the Republic of Mexico. Benton agreed.
On May 11, 1835, the “Constitutionalists” defeated the “Imperialists” at the Battle of Chihuahua, giving President Manuel Ortega's forces, which had relocated their government to Santa Fe, a much-needed morale boost. Upon hearing of this victory, many observers began to think that the Ortega Government might be able to win the Mexican Civil War or at least create a stable break-away country. On May 30th, President Calhoun’s allies in Congress proposed that the United States declare war on the Imperialist faction. Federalists, and many Democrats as well, balk at this idea initially. However, after several impassioned pleas from representatives from Santa Fe as well as Texas, along with some back-room negotiating on the issues of Indian Removal as well as what might happen to Texas after the war, enough congressmen were swayed. On June 21st, the United States declared war on the “Imperialist Rebels” in Mexico and passed a law to draft over 50,000 men into the Army.
By the end of the year, American soldiers had joined Ortega’s faction and were slowly pushing southwards against the Imperialists led by General Raul Guerra. However, casualties were higher than expected, so in December of 1835, Congress passed a second draft order, calling for an additional 50,000 troops. This touches off the first of many draft riots in New England, where most citizens resent the war and want no part in it. Most Federalists see this as a war of expansion - even if assurances have been made that the United States will not attempt to annex Texas after the war ends. This would be the mood that the country would be in during the first part of 1836: Northerners were ambivalent to outright hostile towards the war effort, whereas many Southerners were vocally supportive. Many cities, including Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and even Richmond, see significant protests against the draft. It is out of this environment that tragedy strikes. While making a pro-war speech in Philadelphia, President Calhoun was shot by an anti-war protestor named Hiram Polk on May 1st, 1836. The nation is shocked. Vice President Brandon, who was back in Georgia visiting family, was called back to the capital, being told that the President’s condition was grave. Eight days later, on May 9th, the president died.
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