William Henry Harrison (1773-1845), 9th President of the United States (1837-1845)
Pt. I, 1836-1839
William Henry Harrison was an American military leader and statesman. Popular throughout the Midwest for his term as territorial governor and for his military exploits, "Old Tippecanoe" was nominated by the Whig Party in 1836 after a fierce debate between the diverse party's leaders. William Henry Harrison was decided upon as a compromise between the many favorite sons vying for the nomination, and he ran as a United Whig (with the Anti-Mason endorsement). His running mate in 1836 was Hugh Lawson White, the respected Southern lawyer and Senator, the "Cato of the United States".
William Henry Harrison's 1836 campaign is considered to be the first popular campaign in the history of the Republic. Harrison supporters coined popular tunes, erected log cabins for their candidate, handed out hard cider and whiskey and organized church revivals, all for Tippecanoe. Supporters in Kentucky assembled a large ball of wood and rolled it all the way to D.C., saying "Let's keep the ball rolling." [1] Van Buren and the Albany Regency tried to fight back, but failed to project a popular image of the "pantiwaist", as Harrison styled him. And Willie P. Mangum stole his Southern support, splitting some states to allow a Harrison victory.
"Hard Cider Has Won the Presidency!" declared one New York paper headline.
But Tippecanoe was not to have it easy. A Panic struck the nation in March, after the collapse of a prominent British bank. Riots gripped the nation, from New York to Charleston, as grain prices skyrocketed and local currencies hyperinflated. The most famous of these riots would affect Harrison's presidency greatly. It occurred in Georgetown, DC.
The John Brown[2] Riot was started by an Ohio man named John Brown who was standard among the spoils-seeker filled flophouses of Georgetown. (He is the John Brown of John Brown's Body, the famous DC drinking song.) He was in Georgetown on his last few dollars, ready to plead for a position as postmaster of Portage County, Ohio. John Brown shot a Georgetown shopkeep after he ran out of money for bread and he soon riled up a crowd of similiar spoils-seekers, and inspired them to assault the warehouses in the city. (Many also say he made anti-Negro comments which led to the sacking of the auction blocks and the beating of freemen during the riot.) The riot burned several blocks of Washington and Georgetown, destroyed the auction blocks and lynched several negroes, and robbed warehouses and taverns before it was put down by the Maryland and Virginia state militias. John Brown himself was killed by a fellow rioter in a warehouse on the Potomac.
President Harrison was quite shaken by the experience, as some of the rioters made it as far as the White House lawn. He pushed through an emergency session of Congress an authorization bill, allowing the creation of America's first gendarme: the Washington District Constabulary. But most importantly, it opened Harrison's eyes to the disaster that the Panic was. His presidency was shaped by the John Brown Riot and other similiar incidents. He came to view the Panic as a conspiracy against him and against America, and viewed any solution as justifiable.
Secretary of State Daniel Webster was told to ignore British demands of debt payment. Webster remained aloof during the meeting and by a popular account, thumbed his nose at the British ambassador, spawning the jingle:
Yankee Doodle borrows cash
Yankee Doodle spends it
Then he thumbs his nose at
The Silly gent who lent it
The Debtor's Resolution of 1837 stated that British firms could not sue for debts owed to them by Americans, and caused a second collapse among British banks and even drew calls for war, which only hardened American resolve.
Harrison pushed for a Third Bank of the United States, but found that too many Democrats were still in the House and Senate. He allowed Henry Clay and others to campaign for it and moved on to less controversial relief efforts. He pushed through the Turnpike Law in 1838, which allowed more investment in roads and canals by the Federal Government. (It also set aside funds for the first federally funded railroads)
He revoked the Specie Circular in 1838 and, with the consent of Congress, formed the Bureau of Land Sales to oversee settlement of the west. His Homestead Order allowed anyone growing foodstuffs to earn their farm, for only five years of continuous cultivation and settlement. (Modern scholars say it discouraged slavery in parts of the West, by stipulating that foodstuffs had to be grown) Large-scale speculation still continued, but it did not turn a profit in sales due to the payment in soft money.
The Caroline Massacre [3] in late 1837 drew calls for war from both sides, and led to the offers of sanctuary extended to William Lyons Mackenzie and his Canadian rebels (Which were accepted by many, and Buffalo soon became home to a number of Canadian rebels). Colonel Sir Allan McNabb and other British soldiers involved in the Massacre were given warrants and bounties in upstate New York, and many bounty hunters crossed the border to capture them. Benjamin Lett became famous for his supposed killing of McNabb in 1838, but never did earn the bounty. The New York militia itself seized a (passenger) steamer and tried all of the men aboard for the crimes of the Caroline Massacre. [4] When the Aroostook War broke out in 1838, neither side seemed likely to back down. President Harrison dispatched Winfield Scott to control the settlers in Maine, drew up Zachary Taylor to drill the Midwest's militias and began to ask Congress for a standing army. War was on the horizon.....
[1] Happened in 1840 in OTL
[2] Yes, OTL's John Brown dies early.
[3] More men than Amos Durfee die here....
[4] Something similiar happened in OTL